Back To You
by secrethalfblood
Summary: Hallie Benson cannot stand Sirius Black. He's a player and a heart breaker and yet he won't leave her alone. He's constantly asking her out, trying to get close to her, but the more she's around him the more she's confused. Could there be more to Sirius?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Harry Potter series and any of the characters. All credit goes to my hero, the wonderful J.K. Rowling! :D

Hpov

"One day." Sirius said dropping into the chair next to mine in potions and I resisted the urge to change seats. "You'll realize how devastatingly handsome I am, and you won't be able to control the intense attraction we both know you have for me."

"Is this really how you want to start our seventh year?" I asked him not bothering to look up from my textbook.

"Only if you'll go out with me."

"And keep you from the rest of the girls?" I asked in mock concern, this time actually looking up at him.

He smiled charismatically and I felt an eyebrow rise.

"I don't think I could force myself to be that selfish." I finished dramatically with an extremely obvious fake sigh.

Sirius was tall with broad shoulders, and good looks that were almost unreal. His dark hair was stylish and contrasted with his stormy gray eyes that were looking at me, amused. He was without a doubt the most popular boy in school. He also happened to be the most annoying. For the past few years Sirius had been asking me out, each time in a similarly egotistical fashion. He apparently didn't care about the fact I didn't want to go out with him, or couldn't stand to be around him for that matter. No, his arrogance was so absolute, he had convinced himself that no girl in this school could resist him and after that all this time, I was just playing hard to get.

"Well you could share me." He said simply.

"I'm not one of your girlfriends."

"You could be."

I made an irritated noise and he smirked.

"You know you want to." He said playfully.

It was easy to see why most girls in the school were in love with Sirius. He was very handsome, very funny, and very smart. He was an excellent quidditch player, and a troublemaker with the indefinable air of a bad boy who was always looking for something dangerous to get into. But then again, I wasn't most girls.

"I wouldn't want to bore you." I said sardonically.

He grinned. "I could never be bored of you Hal."

"Your history suggest otherwise." I said turning back to the pages in front of me. He was the kind of boy who had a new girlfriend every week depending on his mood. He usually dated them until the novelty wore off, then cheated on them whenever a new girl struck his fancy. He strung her along until he deemed it time to break up with her, break her heart, and move on to the next best thing. "I've noticed you don't seem to find other girls very interesting unless they're in your bed."

"Other girls aren't you." He said lazily flicking my textbook shut and I looked at him annoyed. "I find you very interesting, even if you've never been in my bed." He paused and allowed himself a wicked grin. "Of course if you're offering…"

"I'm not." I said flatly. "Will you leave me alone?"

"Will you go out with me?"

"No."

"Well then it looks like you're stuck with me." He said cheerfully tugging a strand of my hair and I pushed his hand away.

"Until a prettier girl comes along." I muttered darkly.

"Prettier than you?" he asked raising an eyebrow. "I don't think that's possible."

I shot him a look, uncertain what to feel. He really was an excellent liar. He was looking at me as if I really was the prettiest girl in the school to him and had I not known Sirius, I might just have believed he was being sincere. But I knew I wasn't. This was typical Sirius. Latch on to the nearest girl and make her feel special until he got what he wanted. I could probably throw a rock down the hallway and hit five girls he'd said that to.

"You are so full of-"

"Language Benson." I turned to see two boys had entered the dungeons. The first was tall and skinny with black hair and glasses, the second a little shorter with light brown hair and warm brown eyes. James Potter, and Remus Lupin, two of Sirius's three closest friends.

"Your timing couldn't have better." I said looking at James who was Sirius's best mate. "Make him go away."

He didn't seem to hear me however. He'd been distracted by the two girls that had walked in after them, one with long red hair and green eyes, the other shoulder length blonde hair and kind brown eyes. My best friends and dormitory mates, Lily Evans and Alice Page.

"Evans!" James said looking pleased but she ignored him.

"Are you still bothering her Sirius?" she asked him as she drew level to us in the front of the room.

"No one's bothering anyone." He said pleasantly. "Hallie wants me here."

"Actually I don't." I said frowning.

"Don't be ridiculous, of course you do." He said waving his hand as if to disregard my comment. "Just look at me."

"Get out of our spot." Lily said impatiently.

"Fine." Sirius said standing up and grabbing his bag. "But this isn't finished. I'll see you round Hal."

He winked at me and went to sit with his friends in the back of the class.

"I swear he's just as bad as James." Lily muttered as they took seats on either side of me.

"Well they are best friends." Alice pointed as they unpacked their bags. "What did you expect? Besides, I think it's sweet. He's been asking you out since fourth year, and he still hasn't given up."

"There is nothing sweet about Sirius Black." I said with a glower. Already he'd made eye contact with a pretty blonde Hufflepuff and her friend on the other side of the room. He winked at them and they collapsed into a fit of giggles. "He's an egotistical git."

"Yes, but he has a nice body." Alice said grinning mischievously. "Even you can't deny that Hal."

"Aren't you practically engaged?" I asked her raising an eyebrow. She'd been dating her boyfriend Frank Longbottom for as long as I could remember. He'd graduated last year and was now training to be an auror which was Alice's ideal career path as well.

"That doesn't mean I can't appreciate that other men are attractive." She said shrugging. "It's not like I'd ever do anything with him."

"You'd be one of the few girls." Lily pointed out. "How many times has Valerie dated him?"

Valerie Smalls was the last girl in our dormitory. She was tall, blonde, extremely attractive, and extremely dumb. We didn't have much to do with her, most of her friends were either in Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw, but when she and Sirius had been what she'd said was dating, we spent most of our time avoiding the dormitory.

"I don't think shagging between classes now and again counts as dating." Alice said shaking her head.

"All I know is that I saw waaaaay to much of Sirius when they were hooking up." I said shuddering.

"Something's you just can't unsee." Lily agreed.

We fell silent as the rest of the students who'd made it to N.E.W.T. level potions filed into the classroom. Just as the bell ran, signaling the beginning of the lesson, Professor Slughorn, the potions master, wobbled into the room.

"Good morning class." He said cheerfully while pulling his wand out of his robes. "I hope you're not too comfortable in your seats because you will all be moving."

There was a collective groan as he tapped the board with his wand and a seating chart appeared.

"Now, now," he said with good-natured smile. "Complaining won't change your seating arrangement. It's about time we split up some of the more…" he paused his eyes glittering looking slightly amused. " _Inquisitive_ students."

He looked back at Sirius and James and Lily rolled her eyes.

I wasn't surprised he wanted to separate those two. While Remus wasn't bad, James and Sirius, despite being very clever, often got bored during class. They took it upon themselves to find various ways to 'liven up the lesson' which had resulted in many exploding cauldrons and several accidents. The last time they'd been left to their own devices in the dungeons, five students had been sent to the hospital wing with talking tubers sprouting from various parts of their bodies. For some reason, the 'accident' only seemed to have affected the Slytherins in our class.

I glanced up at the board and was horrified to see that the seats were ordered by last name. I happened to be in the right spot, in the center of the first row, but right next to my name 'Benson' was the name 'Black.'

"Now there's no point arguing about it. This arrangement is final." Slughorn said as some people started to protest. "Now move to your spaces please."

There was a general noise of talk and the scraping of chairs as grumbling students stood up and started walking towards their assigned desks in the room. I said a resigned goodbye to my friends as Alice went back to sit near James and Lily went to sit next to a Ravenclaw named Robert Emerson.

I tried to ignore the look of smug satisfaction Sirius wore as he once again dropped into the seat next to mine.

"Well what do you know Hal," He said grinning. "I guess you really are stuck with me."

"This is one class." I said.

"It's a double period." He pointed out. "Which is twice the class time I need."

"Need for what?"

He smiled, tossed his wand into the air, and when he caught it, he was holding a rose.

"To make a pretty girl smile." He said resting the flower on my textbook and I felt myself blush.

"What is that supposed to be me?" I asked trying to sound sarcastic but not sure I quite managed it. After a quick glance at him, I knew I hadn't.

"Of course."

"Very funny." I said looking away from him.

"Hallie, why can't accept that you're beautiful?" he asked and again I felt my cheeks burn. My eyes landed on the rose, and I felt my heart skip a beat.

'He doesn't mean it.' I thought trying to ignore the fact that I could feel his eyes on me. 'This is Sirius. He'll say anything to get with a girl.'

And yet, as I picked up the rose, I realized had to force myself to keep my face blank. I was actually having to try pretty hard not to smile. Had he known roses were my favorite?

"You know you want to." Sirius said breaking me from my thoughts.

"No actually, I don't." I lied.

"Yes you do. Or are you telling me you don't like roses?"

"You're an idiot."

"And you're a liar." He said smoothly. "But you don't hear me complaining."

I wanted to retort with something sarcastic and witty, but before I had time to come up with anything, Slughorn had come to stand in front of our table.

"Now I enjoy the promise of young love as much as the next fellow." He said and I jumped. Around me, I could hear several people snickering and I flushed again, embarrassed as I realized I was still holding the rose. "But I must ask that you try and contain your affections during my class Ms. Benson and Mr. Black."

I hadn't even noticed that he'd started class.

"If you don't mind, I'd rather you two pay attention while I lecture the class."

His tone was reprimanding, but the effect was ruined slightly when he winked at us before turning back to the blackboard. He continued his lecture about the chemical properties of unicorn blood and I felt my thoughts wander. Slughorn often made it known when he approved of a couple between his favorites. He had supported Alice and Frank, was constantly trying to set up James and Lily, and I had a feeling this was one of those times.

'But we're not a couple.' I thought angrily. Sirius had just forced me into this situation. I didn't want his flower and I certainly didn't want to go out with him.

I dropped the rose onto the table and started to take notes well aware that Sirius was still watching me. It was irritating. I had classes to get through and I didn't need someone like Sirius getting in my way.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Harry Potter series and any of the characters. All credit goes to my hero, the wonderful J.K. Rowling! :D

Spov

When the bell rang, it seemed as if Hallie couldn't leave the room fast enough. She shoved her things in her bag and bolted for the exit, apparently deciding to wait for her friends outside in the hall.

I frowned slightly when I realized she hadn't bothered to take the rose with her. I picked it up off the table and looked at it.

"Bad luck mate." James said bracingly as we exited the classroom and made our way back to Gryffindor tower. "But if it's worth anything I thought the bit with the rose was bloody brilliant."

"Excellent wand work." Remus agreed.

I shrugged. I could have easily made the rose disappear, but instead I put it in my bag, for some reason determined to keep it. I'd thought for a moment there she was actually about to grin when I'd given it to her, but once again I was wrong. I could never seem to get a read on her, what worked with most girls never did work with Hallie. It was like whatever I expected her to do, she did the opposite and I was starting to think I'd never figure her out.

"You need to teach me how to do that, but with lilies," James mused. "Do you think that would work on Evans?"

"Nothing is going to work on Evans mate." I said rolling my eyes. "Just like nothing works on Hallie. I thought you said roses were her favorite." I said looking at Remus. He spent more time with the girls than we did, usually studying, and subsequently was much closer to all of them. But he was especially close to Hallie.

"They are. But I'm sure she'll warm up to you."

"Easy for you to say." I muttered bitterly. "She was half in love with you all last year."

Remus said nothing to this, mainly because we both knew it was true. Hallie had obviously fancied Remus last year, probably because they spent so much time together studying or in classes, but he never asked her out. While he'd said that he didn't want to get too close to a girl, mainly because of his condition, I knew the real reason he'd never consider asking her out was most likely because of me.

"I just don't think you're her favorite person mate." James said shrugging.

"Well that's her problem not mine." I said frowning.

"I don't think it is." James said amused. "In fact, it seems to be the other way round. She seems to be doing fine."

That was too true.

I remembered the first time I'd met Hallie. Well, really met her. I'd seen her in class, and around school a couple of times and thought she was cute but never really knew who she was. She'd always hung around Lily, who James had always fancied, and Alice who'd been spoken for since our third year, so I was never bothered with her. I figured it would be simpler just to ignore her good looks than over complicate our circle of friends by chasing after her.

That was of course until our fourth year.

James and I had both joined the quidditch team, James as the seeker and I as a chaser, and as was usual in quidditch, accidents happened. I'd taken a bludger to the head during one practice, and woken up in the hospital wing to see a girl with long red brown hair and deep blue eyes looking down at me. Up close I saw that she wasn't just cute, she was beautiful. It was a nice way to wake up.

I asked her what she was doing and she'd explained she wanted to be a healer when she left Hogwarts so Madam Pomfrey, the matron of the hospital wing, had agreed to let her help around the ward.

It was the first time I'd ever been alone with her, or ever really spoke to her. We talked as she tested my reflexes and memory, checking for a concussion. She was smart, funny, and sarcastic and though I would never admit it, I thought I might have met a girl cleverer than I was. Something that had never happened before.

It didn't take long for her to determine I was alright. I tried to convince her I needed to stay longer, it was the only time I wanted to keep talking to a girl, but she didn't fall for it. When I tried to ask her out, again something happened that had never before. She said no.

 _"Why not?"_

I remembered asking in shock and the answer she gave me only confused me further.

 _"Because you assumed I would say yes."_

I figured she was just a girl and I would get over it pretty quickly, but I didn't. Over the next few years weeks that no began to haunt me, and no matter how many girls I went out with, I kept finding myself thinking about Hallie. It didn't help that now that I'd met her, she seemed to be everywhere. In my classes, in the common room, she was like a magnet that drew my attention. I ran into her all over the castle, not to mention she was always there when I had to go to the hospital wing. Which, even by Hogwarts standards, was a lot.

I found myself making excuses to go see her, whether it was volunteering to take someone to the hospital wing after practice, or pretending to ask what the homework assignment was in our classes. Each time I did, I always ended up asking her out, and each time she said no.

It was infuriating and yet… I couldn't stop myself.

No matter how annoyed I got with her, every time she was around, it was like I'd just met her again. I constantly made an idiot of myself trying to impress her and with horror I realized I was as bad as James when Lily was around. I couldn't believe one girl could cause me to sink so low.

"Well anyways, what are you two up to now?" I asked trying to get my mind on a topic other than Hallie Benson, which was always difficult. "What classes do you have?"

"I have a free period." Remus said.

"So do I." James said.

"Excellent, me too. Now all we need to do is find Wormtail and we can start planning our next trip at the full moon. Where do you think we should go?"

The last member of our group, Peter Pettigrew, hadn't made it to N.E.W.T. level Potions. Instead he was taking Care of Magical Creatures.

"Well we did find that path in the mountains last year. We never figured out where that went." James said thoughtfully.

"As long as we avoid Hogsmead." Remus said quietly looking rather guilty. "Too many people."

"Relax Moony." I said grinning as we entered a hidden staircase that would lead us straight towards the portrait of the fat lady. "What's the worst that could happen?"

"Let's think about that." He said his voice uncharacteristically bitter. "I could attack someone, we could be seen, Dumbledore could find out about us sneaking around every month, we could-"

"Calm down." I said throwing an arm around his shoulder. "Nothing's going to happen. You know we've got everything under control."

"I guess." He said smiling and looking slightly less guilty.

We exited the staircase and found ourselves right in front of the entrance to the Gryffindor common room.

"Password?" the Fat lady asked.

"Pixie wig." James said confidently. He was Head Boy so he knew all of the passwords even before Remus who was a prefect.

"Correct." She said swinging forward and we entered the common room.

"Hey! Remus!" we looked all turned to see Hallie and her friends sitting by the fire. "We're going to the library tonight to study, you want to come?"

"Sure, what time?" He responded.

She gave him a bright smile and I felt a twinge of jealousy run through me. "Six, after dinner." She replied.

"Am I invited?" I asked grinning and Alice and Lily laughed as Hallie's expression hardened.

"No." she said shortly.

"Aw come on Hallie, it could be fun."

She ignored me and went back to her conversation and I caught James staring at Lily.

"I can't believe you're still on about her." I said shaking my head.

"Of course. You're still after Hallie aren't you?" He said looking away from the girls and frowning at me. "Do you think they'll ever agree to go out with us?"

"I dunno mate, a few years ago I would have said there was no doubt, but now…"

"They might." Remus said shrugging.

"And what makes you think that?" I asked quickly. Remus knew them better than we did, and I was sure that in all the time he spent with them, he was sure to have heard at least some pieces of girl talk.

"People change, this is after all our seventh year, who knows what could happen."

"They don't seem any different." I said frowning.

"Yeah they haven't changed at all." James agreed.

Remus gave us an amused, but significant look.

"I never said I was talking about them."


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Harry Potter series and any of the characters. All credit goes to my hero, the wonderful J.K. Rowling! :D

Hpov

"What time is it?" I asked Lily as we entered our dormitory and she turned on the lights. We had just finished dinner and had gone back to Gryffindor tower to get our school bags before we went to the library.

"Relax will you? It's only five thirty." she answered while checking her watch. "Why do you keep asking?"

"She wants to see Remus." Alice said knowingly.

"That's not it." I said although it wasn't entirely true. "My brother said the score of the Manchester Chelsea game would be on at five forty." I gestured towards the radio on my nightstand as I walked over to my bed. "I don't want to miss it."

"I still can't believe you're a Chelsea fan." Lily said rolling her eyes while Alice looked confused.

"Well my father WAS their keeper for ten years," I pointed out. "AND my brother plays defense for them now."

"Man U all the way." Was Lily's rebuttal.

"You know sometimes I wonder why we're even friends." I said grinning and she laughed.

"What are you talking about?" Alice, who was a pureblood and had very little knowledge of the muggle world, asked confused.

"Football." Lily explained.

"That mad muggle sport?" she asked.

"That's the one." I said with a nod. Lily and I had tried to explain it to Alice before, but she just didn't get the sport.

"I'll never understand your fascination." She said shaking her head. Like most purebloods, or anyone that had grown up in the magical community really, she was a die hard quidditch fan, and her opinion that all others sports just couldn't possibly be as good would never be swayed.

"Hal, you might want to turn the radio on." Lily said glancing at her watch again and I pointed my wand at the radio. It switched on and I tuned it to the right station. Sound blared from the speakers as we caught two sports reporters mid conversation.

"…and in the premier league, Chelsea has dominated tonight with a four to nil victory against Manchester United." The first man said and I looked at Lily.

"Ha!" I said smugly and she shook her head in disappointment.

"Yes they really did well tonight," the second speaker said. "We actually got to speak with team captain Adam Benson, son of legendary keeper John Benson, briefly after the game and he has high hopes for them taking the title this year."

"And he should." The first reporter agreed. "They've had just a phenomenal season so far and this win against Manchester has put them on top."

"Now Adam has given us a rather special request hasn't he David?" asked the second reporter.

"Yes he has Mark." The first reporter, who's name was David apparently, said. "He's asked us to give a shout out to his little sister, who he says should be listening right now from school. Well Miss Benson, if you're listening, he says he hopes you're having a good year so far, your brothers love you, and they can't wait to see you when you're home over break."

I smiled as the report continued.

"Such a close family." Mark commented. "Although it's what's to be expected after the tragedy that happened with John Benson's wife-"

I felt my smile fade then quickly pointed my wand at the radio which cut out. Without thinking, I touched the ring that was resting on a chain around my neck.

There was an awkward silence in the room where I refused to look at either Alice or Lily.

"Hallie, are you-" Lily started sadly but I cut her off.

"I'm fine." I said turning from them and spotting the picture of my father and my four brothers on my nightstand. I looked away and back at my bed on which my school bag was resting. "Let's just get our things, it has to be nearly six."

"Alright." Lily said uncertainly and I knew she was looking at Alice as they silently debated whether or not to pursue the subject.

I sighed and began digging through my bag.

"That's weird." I said frowning. I couldn't see my potions textbook even though I was sure I'd put it in the front pocket of my bag. I reached inside of it and jumped when I touched something long, thin, and very different from a textbook.

"What the-" I started grabbing the object and pulling it out of my back. Instead of my book, I was holding a rose. "Oh I can't believe this." I said annoyed.

"What?" Lily and Alice asked together and I turned to show them.

"Can you believe him?"

"Oh how terrible." Alice said with heavy sarcasm. "Sirius gave you a flower Hallie I'm so sorry. He's such a bad person, how will you ever forgive him?"

"What's wrong with a rose?" Lily asked quizzically. "I thought you liked them."

"It's not what the rose that's the problem, it's what he used it to replace. He stole my textbook." I said and Alice laughed. "He must have taken it in charms. He sits behind me."

"Well it looks like you're going to have to go get it back." Alice said, clearly trying to keep a straight face.

"I'm not in the mood for this." I said darkly grabbing my bag.

I had just about reached the dormitory door when it opened and in walked Valerie.

"Hey Hallie," she said and then frowned. "What's wrong?"

"Sirius gave her a flower." Alice said, clearly still amused.

"He did?" she asked and for some reason she looked a little hurt. "Why?"

"Because he's a git that's why." I said storming out of the dormitory as a clearly confused Valerie questioned Lily and Alice about what had happened.

I went down the steps, into the common room and found the stairs that would lead me towards the boys' dormitory.

"I can't believe him." I muttered irritation as I climbed towards the sign that said 'seventh years.' "What on earth makes him think he's so important that he can just do whatever he wants?"

"Sirius!" I shouted throwing open the door and I saw four heads turned towards me.

"Blimey Hallie can you knock?" Peter asked diving for a robe as I stormed towards Sirius.

"Evening Hallie." Sirius said grinning. He'd been leaning back on his bed talking to James, who was sitting on the bed next to his. Remus, was sitting in a chair by one of the windows, with a book in his hands and Peter, who evidently had just taken a shower judging by the fact his fair hair was wet and he'd just exited the bathroom, scrambled for his trunk. "I thought I might be seeing you soon." He continued pleasantly. "Do you need something?"

"You know why I'm here."

He sighed dramatically. "I do." He said in a pained voice. "You can't resist me any longer, can you?"

I stared at him in shock.

"Are you kidding me?" I asked incredulously. How could anyone be so arrogant?

"I knew you'd come to your senses. And it's alright," He said flashing me a confident smile. "I forgive you for all the time you've been playing hard to get."

Deciding to ignore this statement completely, I turned the topic back to the reason I was here.

"What the hell is this?" I asked him angrily brandishing, the rose in his face and trying to ignore the fact he wasn't wearing a shirt. Seriously he had to have worked out, no one's abs looked like that, not without some serious effort.

"It's a flower." He said amused.

"I know it's a flower, where is my book?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about." He said innocently.

"Cut the crap Sirius I know you took it."

He grinned. "But you can't prove it."

"I don't need proof to hex you." I said taking out my wand and he looked wary.

"Alright fine, I'll give you your book back." He said reaching into the drawer next to his bed and pulling out my copy of 'Practical Potions for the N.E.W.T. Student,' and dropping it on his bed. "Happy?"

"No. I want you to stop doing things like this." I said stiffly.

"I probably won't."

"Why not?"

"Because it's too much fun." He said smirking and getting to his feet. He was more than a head taller than me and had to actively look down to meet my very angry gaze. "I like it when you get all worked up." he said and I blushed as he lifted my chin gently with his finger. "It's cute. Besides it seems like all you ever do is study Hallie. Don't you think it's time you took a break?"

"What makes you think you can make that decision?" I asked pushing his hand away from me and slightly uncomfortable with how close he was standing.

"I'm merely an observer stating what I see." He said shrugging and taking a step nearer.

"Well will you stop it?" I asked annoyed. "I don't need you looking out for me. In fact, I just want you to leave me alone."

"But where the fun in that?"

"Not everything is a game Sirius."

"For you maybe." He said with a grin.

I blushed again and stepped back.

"I have to go." I said quickly turning away and walking towards the door. No matter how irritating Sirius could be, there was no doubt that he was very charismatic. I needed to get out of here and clear my head. For one insane moment, I'd been horrified to see that I had found him attractive…

"Hallie." Sirius called sounding amused.

"What?" I asked agitated and turning back to face him.

"Don't you want your book?" he asked gesturing towards the bed where it still rested. I'd been so distracted, I'd completely forgotten about it. "That is what you came for isn't it? Unless what you wanted was me…" he let his voice trail off while smiling suggestively.

I jumped as I heard James stifle a laugh. I'd completely forgotten the others were here.

"Get out of it." I said scowling and with a quick flick of my wand the book came soaring into my waiting hands.

"You know I can always steal it again." Sirius said looking satisfied with himself.

"And I can always hex you."

"You know your threaten that a lot, but you rarely ever do it." He grinned. "The lady doth protest too much methinks."

"Are you seriously quoting Shakespeare right now?" I asked him in distaste.

"It's possible."

"Who does that?"

"Very handsome and well versed gentlemen." He said his smile returning to a smirk.

"You are just one giant cliché." I said annoyed. "Leave me alone Sirius, and stop taking my things."

And this time, with my book in hand, I walked out of the dormitory not bothering to look back.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Harry Potter series and any of the characters. All credit goes to my hero, the wonderful J.K. Rowling! :D

Spov

I grinned as Hallie stormed out of the dormitory and Remus shot me a reproachful look.

"You do realize now I'M the one who's going to have to put up with her complaining about you." He said frowning at me. "Why do you bother her so much?"

"Because if he doesn't she ignores him." James said smirking.

"Any thing for a bit of her attention huh?" Remus said rolling his eyes and closing his book. "I guess I should follow her, we're all supposed to be at the library in five minutes anyways."

"Alright see you Moony." James said as Remus grabbed his school bag and walked out after Hallie.

"Padfoot, why do you put up with Hallie?" Peter asked looking relieved she had left as he rifled through his trunk for real clothes to replace the bathrobe he'd thrown on when she walked in. "She's pretty, but it seems like a lost cause. I mean it's alright for Prongs, he's always been after Lily but you've dated tons of girls. Why not stick with one of them?"

"That's a very good question." I muttered looking at the rose she'd dropped. Logic dictated that I should just forget about her, and God knows I'd tried, but even when it seemed like a dead case I found myself doing things like I had done to day, nicking her Potions book from her bag when she wasn't paying attention in class just so I'd have an excuse for her to come and talk to me. I just couldn't help myself.

"Well while you're figuring that out," James said suddenly standing. "I'll be off setting up trials."

"What time?" I asked. James was the Gryffindor quidditch captain and so it was his job to reserve the pitch for team practices and tryouts.

"This Saturday at one if it's available." He answered.

I nodded and he exited the dormitory leaving me alone with Peter.

"What are your plans for the night?" I asked and his face fell.

"I've got detention." He said frowning.

"It's the first day back." I said incredulously. "What could you have possibly done?"

"I accidentally left a cage of pixies open during Care of Magical Creatures." He said shamefacedly. "And they sort of attacked the class. Three people ended up in the hospital wing."

"That could only happen to you." I said rolling my eyes. Peter was very clumsy and prone to accidents, many people wondered why James, Remus, and I hung around with him, but despite his awkward appearance, he was very useful. Peter had a knack for knowing information he shouldn't. He always was the one to hear things, and that had been very useful over the years.

"I'd better go too." He said with a resigned sigh. "My detention is a six and if I'm late Professor Kettleburn is likely to make me feed the hippogriffs after class." He shuddered. Peter had always been scared of hippogriffs but I could never see why. I rather liked them. "I'll see you around Padfoot."

"See you." I said feeling slightly disappointed as he scurried off towards the common room. I rarely ever had down time at Hogwarts, most of it was spent with either the others, or girls. I'd always hated being alone.

My thoughts drifted towards Hallie again as I picked up the rose unable to keep myself from looking at it. It shouldn't have bothered me so much that she'd left it, but I'd be lying to myself if I said it didn't hurt just a little.

I fell back on my bed wondering when everybody would be back when I heard the door open.

"Did you forget something?" I asked expecting to see Peter but when I looked up I felt a shock to through me to see it was Hallie's dormitory mate Valerie who'd walked through the door.

"Valerie," I said confused and sitting up. "What are you doing here?"

"I just thought I'd see what you're up to." She said shrugging then spotted the rose. "Hallie didn't like her flower?"

"Apparently not."

"You know I don't understand why you waste your time on her. She's not going to go out with you."

"You never know." I said.

"Sirius I do know, I live with her. I hear her talk about you with her friends." She said flatly while walking towards me. "There's no point. Why focus on one person when you can have any girl in the school?"

"Why are you here?" I asked, but I knew the answer.

"I was bored." She said shrugging she was standing in front of me now. "I figured if you weren't busy, you and I could have a little fun. You know, for old times sake."

I glanced at the rose in my hand, and felt a stab of bitterness run through me. Hallie had simply left it there to die on the floor. Peter and Valerie were right, there was no point bothering with her. Why did I keep wasting my time on a girl who obviously didn't care?

I dropped the rose and put an arm around Valerie pulling her onto the bed. Her lips crashed into mine and she immediately started undoing the buttons on her shirt. Even as Valerie threw herself at me, a small part in the very back of my mind knew it was only a distraction. This was what I always did. I'd swear I was done with Hallie, I'd tell myself to move on and find another girl but it never lasted, my resolve was far too weak. No matter how angry I was, I knew the moment I saw her things would go right back to normal and I'd be chasing her again.

There was something about her that kept me coming back. Something I just couldn't shake.

Hpov

"So much for flowers." I said rolling my eyes as Valerie emerged from the boys' dormitory. I was sitting with Lily, Alice, and Remus in the common room we'd finished in the library for the night and were just talking by the fire.

"Oh good lord, not this again." Lily said. "Remus, you need to put your foot down. I am not putting up with another year of walking in on her and Sirius in our dormitory."

"You do realize I can't control what he does right?" he asked raising an eyebrow. "Besides, this is Hallie's fault not mine."

"What are you talking about?" I asked scowling. "I didn't tell her to go up there and shag him."

"Sirius always does this when you turn him down. He can't have you so he finds another girl to cheer him up. He's licking his wounds."

"So I turn him down and his first thought is to go find the nearest thing in a skirt?" I asked in distaste.

"What do you expect him to do Hal?" Alice asked. "By now you've had to have destroyed his pride."

"And that's his solution?" I asked raising an eyebrow while gesturing towards the retreating figure of Valerie as she went back to our dorm. "Because him sleeping with any and every girl that agrees is really to help his chances in making me change my mind and want to go out with him. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense."

I'd said this without thinking and immediately regretted it as I caught Alice's expression.

"So wait," she said excitedly. "If Sirius didn't sleep around, would you actually consider going out with him?"

"You're reading too much into this Alice." I said frowning.

"But would you?"

I looked at Remus who seemed slightly uncomfortable as we hovered dangerously close on the edge of girl talk. There was a time last year when I couldn't even be in the same room as him without my heart rate increasing, and I was pretty sure he knew how I'd felt, but I'd long since accepted the fact that all we were ever going to be was friends and over the summer I'd pretty much gotten over him.

"I dunno." I said frowning and looking away. "I mean. He's funny and he's smart."

"And good looking." She added.

"But he's also an egotistical prat."

"You know he's really not all that bad Hal." Remus said fairly and I shot him a look. Like Alice, kept trying to convince me to give Sirius a chance.

"He once came into the hospital wing and asked me if I would give him a **_complete physical_**." I said annoyed.

"Well that's not THAT bad." He reasoned.

"He told me to 'pay close attention to his wand.'"

Alice burst out into laughter while Lily made an incredulous noise.

"He actually said that to you?" she asked.

"Lily you haven't heard half the things that boy has said." I said scowling.

"Ok you have a point." Remus conceded. "But that's just when he's around you."

"And every other girl…" Lily muttered.

"But my point is." Remus continued as if she hadn't spoken. "He might act like an idiot around you but that's not the real him. Remember how much of a prat James used to be around Lily?"

At this Lily flushed.

"That's true." Alice said brightly. "He has been much better this year. Speaking of which, aren't you supposed to spend a lot of time with him now that he's head boy and you're head girl." She asked Lily.

"Not a lot of time." She said defensively. "We just have to do rounds together, and meet with the prefects. Just normal head boy and girl duties."

"Getting back to what I was saying." Remus said looking at me. "You should give him a shot Hal. Get to know him. And you don't have to go out with him." He added quickly when he saw my expression. "But you know, you could be his friend."

"Well you might know the 'real Sirius,'" I said with finger quotes. "But how am I supposed to give the 'real Sirius' chance if I've never met him?"

For this he had no answer.

I thought back to earlier in class, when Sirius had given me the flower, and how sincere he'd seemed.

"Besides." I continued. "James has always been after just Lily. He might have acted like an idiot, but you could always tell her cared."

"You think Sirius doesn't care about you?" Remus asked frowning.

"I know he doesn't." I said shrugging. "Not really. The only reason he hasn't given up on me is because he sees me as a challenge. It has nothing to do with me. The second I agreed to go out with him he'd get bored just like every other girl."

Remus frowned and looked as if he wanted to say something, but before he could the portrait hole swung open and James bounded through it.

"Attention Gryffindors!" he said excitedly and everyone in the common room turned to face him. "Anyone interested in trying out for our quidditch team, trials are this Saturday at one."

I groaned. I dreaded quidditch trials every year for all four houses. It was the worst time of year to work in the hospital wing.

"What's wrong?" Lily asked.

"Do you know what happens when a bunch of people who haven't flown for months get on their broomsticks while trying to avoid bludgers and other people?"

"Lots of injuries?" Alice asked.

"Lots of injuries," I confirmed. "Honestly, it's a recipe for disaster."

"So I guess you're not going to watch this year?" Remus asked.

"No we're going to need all hands on deck." I answered.

He looked at Alice and Lily. "What about you two, are you going to watch trials?"

"I've got nothing better to do." Alice said shrugging while Lily said. "Sure."

"That will make James happy." I said smirking looking back to him as he posted the trial times on the notice board and answered a couple of fourth years' questions. "Let's hope you don't distract him too much though. We wouldn't want him to have an accident."

"Well if he does you'd be the one to fix him." Lily said laughing.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Harry Potter series and any of the characters. All credit goes to my hero, the wonderful J.K. Rowling! :D

Spov

The first week of school passed relatively slowly, mainly because the only thing I had to fill up my time with was school. Quidditch practices hadn't started yet, there hadn't been a full moon, and James was off with Lily a fair amount of time as they did rounds with Remus and the other prefects, so we had yet to plan any of our adventures.

I found that the easiest was to preoccupy myself was with girls. This was my usual standard to fall back on but something was different this year. Even when I was with them I was distracted, which was irritating because a distraction was what I was using them for. But the only girl I could really seem to pay attention to when I was with her was Hallie. And she made it clear that she tolerated me at best.

However I did find, to both of our surprise really, that she thought I was funny. Forced to sit next to me in Potions, Hallie couldn't ignore everything I said and I was shocked when she laughed at most of my jokes.

"So you do have a sense of humor." I said grinning at her after she'd laughed at a comment I'd made to Slughorn.

"Don't look so pleased with yourself." She said rolling her eyes. "I laughed. Once. It's hardly an accomplishment."

"Oh yes it is, and I am pleased. I don't think I've ever even seen you laugh."

"Well what did you expect?" she asked shrewdly.

"I dunno." I said frowning as the bell rang. "But not this."

We gathered our things and made our way to the doors of the classroom.

I'd always gotten the impression that very few things fazed Hallie. She tougher than most girls, at least emotionally, and if I was honest part of me wondered if that part of her hadn't been partially shut down as some sort of defense mechanism.

She didn't care much what other people thought of her and didn't feel the need to be liked by everyone or change to get attention from boys. This meant she didn't have to pretend to be anything but herself. I had the feeling sometimes that she had an emotional wall she liked to hide behind like her sarcasm, so others never knew what she was really feeling. Most girls I could read like an open book but Hallie always kept me guessing. It was probably why she was so hard to impress.

"That's because you're not funny when you're acting like an egotistic git." She said fixing me with a calculated gaze. "Which is most of the time by the way."

"I thought girls were supposed to like a man with confidence." I said frowning as we entered the dungeon corridor.

" _Women_ like a man with confidence." She said stressing the first word. " _Girls_ often mistake arrogance for confidence which is why so many of them worship you."

I grinned, I wasn't sure why, she'd basically just insulted me but I kind of liked how honest she was.

"Blimey Hal, don't hold back, tell me how you really feel."

"You know how I feel."

"Yeah I'm pretty sure the whole school knows you hate me." I said and she frowned.

"I don't hate you Sirius."

"You don't?" I asked slightly surprised.

"No. I just think you're irritating when you act immature."

"How do you know that's me being immature? What if that's just how I am?"

"Sirius, if you acted as annoying to everyone as you do to me, you wouldn't have the friends that you have."

"What do you mean?" I asked frowning.

"Can you really see James and Remus being friends with someone who constantly steals their stuff, distracts them during class, and always pesters them with the same questions over and over again?" she asked dubiously.

"So if I stop asking, will you go out with me?" I asked her.

"It's like you weren't even listening…" she said shaking her head and leaving me to catch up with her friends.

"You didn't say no!" I called after her grinning.

"No!" she shouted over the crowd of students heading for the steps and again I wasn't sure why but I smiled. Over the past week I felt like I'd learned a lot about her, even if she hadn't told me much.

"Oi, Padfoot." I turned to see Remus and James jogging to catch up to me. "Are you done following Benson around like a lost puppy? Because I think we finally figured out what we're going to do for the next full moon."

"I'm listening." I said grinning as James started to explain.

Hpov

"I hate quidditch trials." I muttered as three more kids, first years by the look of them, walked into the hospital wing. Two of them, a boy and a girl, were bleeding slightly. They were supporting the weight of the unconscious third, another boy.

"What happened?" I asked.

"We got into a crash." The girl explained. She didn't look too bad all I could see was a nose bleed.

"All three of you?"

"No, just Kathy and I." the tiny boy said looking at me nervously. He too was bleeding from a cut on his eyebrow and a swollen lip. "Harold faints at the sight of blood, so when he saw us, he passed out."

"Set him in the bed." I said tiredly. "I'll get something to patch you up."

It had been like this ever since trials began at one. Floods of students, in the lower years mostly, came stumbling into the ward with various minor injuries that usually accompanied the inexpert handling of a broom. This meant a lot of dull tedious work for me, during trials we rarely saw anything too challenging or interesting. There was one girl who had broken her wrist, but she'd already been fixed by the matron and sent on her way.

I was just packing up at three when trials had ended when the door banged open for what felt like the millionth time today. But the people who walked through the doors were not first years.

"What happened to you?" I asked James in shock. His arm was around Sirius's shoulders and he was looking a little green, as if he thought he was going to be sick.

"Got hit with the bludgers." Sirius said amused while James flopped down onto the nearest bed. "He ended trials and the prat was too busy staring at Lily to notice they hadn't been put away yet. Both caught him right here." He said gesturing towards a spot above his stomach just below the ribcage.

"And what are you doing here?" I asked him.

"My arm hurts." He said grinning at me in such a way that I didn't believe it. "I think I pulled my shoulder. I expect you to take care of me."

"Let me take a look at it." I said rolling my eyes as Madam Pomfrey attended to James. He could have been worse considering he'd been hit with both bludgers and taken completely off guard, although I wouldn't be surprised if he had a few cracked ribs.

Sirius, who needed no further invitation, grinned and took of his shirt. "Turn around." I instructed putting my hand on his shoulder.

"I don't want you taking advantage of me in my weakened condition," he said and I could tell he was smirking. "But if you really want to…"

"I don't think your shoulder is your problem." I said pressing my hand against the lower right side of his back. "I think it's coming from about here."

"But it doesn't hurt." He said confused.

"Oh really?" I asked then punched him in the kidney. "How about now?" I asked as he bent forward and groaned. "Feel better?" I asked sweetly.

"I was hoping for a massage." He said darkly his voice tight with pain.

"I think what you needed was more of deep tissue work." I said mordantly. "Now if your shoulder really does hurt take this." I handed him an anti-inflammatory potion. "It should stop the swelling long enough for it to heal. Now quit wasting my time and get out of the Hospital wing."

"How did you learn to hit so hard?" he asked irritated rubbing the spot where I had hit him.

"I had four brothers growing up Sirius." I said rolling my eyes. "I learned a few things."

"You are so lucky you're cute." He muttered darkly.

"Whatever Sirius." I said rolling my eyes. "Just get out of here."

"How is James?" he asked looking at Madam Pomfrey as he stood and put his shirt back on.

"He'll be fine." She said and I looked over to see that he did look better. At least he was no longer green. As she tended to him, she had the same motherly expression she wore when treating all of the students. I felt a twinge of sadness go through me. "You can leave now Hallie if you like. Thanks for the help this afternoon, but I think I've got everything under control."

"No problem." I said distractedly. "I'll see you on Monday."

"Where are you headed?" Sirius asked following me as I headed for the exit.

"Back to the tower. I've got some things I need to finish for Charms."

"It's Saturday afternoon." He said incredulously, as if the thought of doing homework right now was repellant. "Can't it wait?"

I didn't answer him. I was still thinking about Madam Pomfrey's expression. Hardly aware that I was doing it, I touched the ring on my necklace.

Sirius noticed.

"Do you always wear that?" he asked as we entered the corridor and I nodded. "It's pretty, where'd you get it?"

Again I didn't answer.

"Touchy subject I see." He said frowning. "What is it like important to you or something?"

"Yeah." I said shortly.

"Hallie are you alright?" he asked.

"I'm fine Sirius," I said sharper than I had meant to. "What does it matter to you anyways?"

I knew it wasn't his fault for being curious, how was he supposed to have known? But I didn't like to talk about this with people, and I especially didn't want to talk about it with him.

"It doesn't." he said defensively. "It's just, you looked upset."

"Like you care." I said bitterly.

"Of course I care." He said and his tone was so different from what I was used to, I was shocked into looking at him. We'd stopped in the middle of the deserted corridor, and turned to face each other. He was looking down at me intently and not for the first time this week I was forced to realize just how much taller her was than me.

"What?" I asked defensively, trying to ignore the flush that was creeping into my cheeks. Why did I care if Sirius Black was staring at me?

"Nothing." He said shrugging and for once he wasn't laughing or making any soft of arrogant remark. He really did look genuinely concerned that I was upset. It was unnerving.

"Then why are you staring at me?"

"Is it a crime to look at someone who's beautiful?" he asked quietly and I looked away.

"Will you stop saying things like that?" I muttered wishing I was back in the hospital wing treating patients. I needed something to do.

"Why does it bother you so much?"

"Because it's never true." I said in frustration. Why wouldn't he leave me alone? I didn't understand why someone like Sirius was so caught up with someone like me. He could have any girl in the school. In fact, if he asked them to, they would probably form a line just to go out with him. So what did he want with me?

"You know Hallie." He said in a strange tone and I couldn't help myself. I glanced up at him and he was looking down at me again with that same intense expression. "I might be a person with a lot of secrets, but I rarely ever lie. And when I say you're beautiful, I mean it."

"Yeah and I'm sure you mean it when you say it to every other girl as well right?" I asked calling sarcasm to my defense.

"I've never told another girl that she's beautiful." He said softly. "You're the only one."

I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out because I had no idea what to say. I shouldn't believe this, not for a second. This was Sirius, and this was his game. He sweet talked girls into thinking he cared about them then left them for dead. But with the way he was looking at me, he could have told me the sky was orange and I would have believed him.

"You know you're a lot like your favorite flower Hallie." He said suddenly producing a rose from thin air and looking at it thoughtfully. "Beautiful, but when you get too close." He paused and brushed his thumb over one of the thorns. "You realize it's protected." He handed me the rose and with a thoughtful expression. "It makes me wonder what you're protecting yourself from."

"Nothing." I said flatly.

"You're a bad liar."

"I'm not lying."

"I don't believe you." He said simply.

I glared at him.

"Why are you so annoying?" I asked him angrily. "Any other boy in this school would have taken the hint by now, I don't want to go out with you. Why won't you leave me alone?"

"Any other boy might be intimidated by you." He said shrugging.

"Intimidated?" I asked frowning momentarily distracted from my anger. "What do you mean?"

"Oh come on Hallie." He said rolling his eyes and looking annoyed. "You can't honestly expect me to believe that you don't know what I'm talking about."

"Well believe it because I don't."

"You really don't see how you could be intimidating to a boy?" he asked skeptically.

"No."

"Well first of all your stunning." He said and I blushed. "Your looks alone would do it, but you're also intelligent, clever, and driven. You know what you want and you won't be distracted. It's why you're such good friends with Remus, Alice, and Lily but not particularly close with anyone else. You know you're smarter than most of the people in the school, so you don't waste your time trying to fit in or be liked and I don't blame you." He smirked slightly. "Why bother surrounding yourself with people if they can't keep up?" He looked at me and I felt the urge to start running in the opposite direction but I found I couldn't move. "Can't you see how that might be intimidating to a guy? Knowing that no matter how hard he tries, you're not going to be impressed?"

"And you think you're impressive?" I asked skeptically.

"Can you tell me I'm not?" he asked grinning and I rolled my eyes.

"Yes."

"Well you'd be the first." He said with a smirk.

"I bet that stings a little bit." I said crossing my arms over my chest and looking up at him, wondering if what Alice had said about his pride was true.

"It's nothing I can't handle," He said calmly. "Anyways, you've got all that going for you, plus with the way you go back and forth between school work and the hospital wing, it's like you've never even heard of the word fun let alone have time for it, you've made yourself completely unapproachable."

"You think I don't know how to have fun?" I asked him, for some reason feeling a little hurt. I didn't know why Sirius opinion mattered to me, it didn't really, or at least it shouldn't. But the way he'd stated it, so casually as if it were a fact made me feel uncomfortable. Was this what everyone thought?

"No, but it is the impression you make to those who don't know you well, and you seem to have perfected the art of keeping people at a distance."

"Well if I've made myself so unavailable." I said suspiciously. "Why do you bother?"

"Because." He said shrugging looking at me with a strange expression, as if I were a particularly challenging quiz question with an answer that he knew, but was just out of reach. "While I know you'd love to convince the whole school nothing bothers you and that you thrive on sarcasm and structure, I know there's more to you. And that's why you don't like me."

"I don't like you because you're an arrogant git who fancies himself as a heart breaker."

"Maybe at first." He said shrugging. "But that's not the reason now."

"Oh really?" I asked darkly.

"Yes."

"Well why don't you enlighten me as to why I don't like you Sirius?" I snapped. "Because apparently I'm incapable of figuring that out on my own."

"You don't like me because I'm the only person who refuses to let you push them away." He said stepping closer to me and looking down. My heart was pounding and I was so angry I felt as if I was going to hit him. Who did he think he was telling me how I felt and why? "And that scares you."

"So now you're telling me what I'm afraid of?" I asked him acidly. "Sirius you don't know anything about me."

"I think you'd be surprised."

"Fine." I said stiffly. "If you really know so much about me, let's put you to the test."

"Alright."

"What's my favorite color?" I asked angrily. I knew this was stupid, in fact, this was beyond stupid, this qualified as supremely immature but I didn't care. There was just something about Sirius that seemed to bring out the worst in me. He had this uncanny ability to get under my skin and make me react in ways that no one else could. It was infuriating, I couldn't stand it. I hated the idea that in any way, shape, or form, someone like Sirius Black could get in my head.

"Blue." He said. "Well at least that's what you tell everyone, because it's the color of your family's favorite football team. But your real favorite color is actually red."

"How did you know that?" I asked.

"Roses are you favorite flowers." He said shrugging. "Plus all of your school things, binders and notebooks, they're all red."

"Ok you're observant." I said frowning. "I'll give you that. But how many brothers do I have?"

"Four." He said simply. "All older and apparently very protective."

"What's my favorite subject?"

"Charms."

"Whens my birthday?"

"April second."

"What's my favorite animal?"

"Phoenix."

"Favorite food?"

"Lasagna."

"Favorite drink?"

"What like alcohol?" he asked frowning and I nodded, thinking I had him stumped. "That's a trick question. You don't drink, but I'll admit I don't know why."

I felt a stab of sadness go through me but ignored it. At least he didn't know that.

"How do you know all of this?" I asked him suspiciously. I couldn't understand it, Lily was my best friend and I knew even she wouldn't have gotten all of these right.

"I have a very good memory Hal." He said. "And unlike most girls, when you talk, I listen."

"I don't believe that." I said rolling my eyes. "Remus probably told you all of this."

"Not everything I know about you comes from Remus." He said frowning.

"Prove it." I said and he hesitated, apparently debating if he should say what was on his mind. Apparently, he decided against it because a full thirty seconds of silence passed between us and I shook my head.

"I'll admit I was wrong, you do know a lot about me," I said looking at him coldly. "But memorizing a bunch of facts doesn't mean anything Sirius. There's nothing you could tell me, that would convince me you understood anything about me at all."

I turned and started to walk back to the Gryffindor tower on my own when he spoke.

"Your name isn't Hallie." He said quietly and I froze as my entire body turned to ice. "Your real name is Katie."


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Harry Potter series and any of the characters. All credit goes to my hero, the wonderful J.K. Rowling! :D

Spov

"Your real name is Katie."

The moment I'd spoken those words, I wanted to take them back. The sentence hung in the air between us ugly and awkward, in a silence I couldn't take. I knew she would be angry, but her reaction was even worse than I'd thought.

"What?" she asked her voice shaking as she turned to look at me. I'd expected her to be furious, to start shouting, but what I didn't expect was for her to look warily at me, almost scared.

"I'm sorry Hallie, I just-"

"How do you know that?" she asked cutting me off her voice still shaking but at the same time it was dead, with no emotion.

"Don't worry, I'm not a stalker." I assured her a little unnerved at her expression. "I sort of found out by accident."

"How on earth could you have possible found that out by accident?" she asked and when I looked at her I could see fury in her eyes. I looked away. "I even had it changed on the rosters," she said angrily. "Half the professors don't even know."

I sighed.

"Fifth year," I stared refusing to meet her gaze. "James and I heard a rumor about an office where they keep students files, you know, their names, year, houses, and," I hesitated and then added. "Their records."

She made an irritated nose and I knew she could tell where this was going.

"Well, I think everyone knows by now that my mates and I would get into trouble now and again."

"You're right." She muttered. "Everyone knows you guys have your secrets."

"Yeah well these secrets," I said scratching the back of my head. "Are exactly why we wanted find these files. We've been caught doing a lot of stuff, little things mostly. Stupid stuff that we just got detention for. But we wanted to know just how much the school knew about what we get up to. So one night we broke into the administrations office on the fourth floor to try and find out. Turns out, it wasn't much."

"I still don't see-" she started but I cut her off.

"You might have had your name changed on the roster Hallie, but not on the file. It was right next to mine so when I saw it I-"

"Just went and helped yourself." She said darkly. "Never mind my privacy."

"I didn't know it was you." I said defensively. "At first I didn't know who it was, all the tab on the folder said was Katie Benson and I was confused. I thought you might have had a little sister I didn't know about or something, but when I didn't see your name anywhere I thought maybe there had been a misprint. So I opened it and that's when I saw that the middle name on the file was Hallie. I'd always just assumed you didn't have a middle name, I mean that's not that unusual, but neither is people going by their middle names. I figured that's what you'd done."

"Who else knows about this?" she asked quietly.

"No one." I said with complete honesty. "I didn't tell anyone."

"Why?" she asked suspiciously.

"I just figured if it was something you were keeping from you friends, it might have been important to you. Besides, it's not my secret to tell."

"And you never once wanted to ask me?" she asked skeptically. "You never wondered why?"

"Of course I did." I said frowning. "But I figured you were happier thinking I didn't know."

She looked away from me and again I regretted that I'd even brought it up. She looked very sad, but despite her expression, I couldn't help but feel that same sense of burning curiosity that consumed me when I first found her file.

"But now that you know I do," I hesitated. "Will you tell me why?"

She glared at me.

"I'm not going to tell anyone." I said quickly. "You're secret's safe with me."

"Katie was my mother's name." she said quietly.

"Was?"

"She died." She said softly, again looking away.

"Oh. Hallie, I'm so sorry." I said and I meant it. I was sorry I'd told her this, sorry I'd even brought it up. I didn't want to be the one forcing her to think about her mother, not when she looked so upset.

"Don't be it's not your fault." She said shaking her head. "You didn't know."

"What happened?" I asked wondering if I was pushing my luck. "I mean, I understand if you don't want to tell me but how did she-"

"She was killed." She said stiffly. "She was walking in London when a drunk man tried to mug her and things went wrong."

"Is that why you don't drink?"

She nodded.

"It's also why my brothers are so protective of me." She said with a sigh. "Everyone says I look just like her, so I guess, they feel like they have to keep me safe not just because I'm their little sister, but I think they feel I'm all of her they have left. They all call me Katie at home but I can't stand to be reminded-" her voice broke and I noticed again she was touching the ring that hung on the chain around her neck. "At least not here."

"That ring, was it your mothers?" I asked quietly.

"It was her engagement ring." She said softly. "My Dad knew I'd always loved it so he kept her wedding ring and I got this."

"Did he ever remarry?" I asked.

"No." and I was relieved to see her smile slightly. "He always said my mother was his one and only, and even though she was gone, he had five of her children to raise who she lives on through, and for him, what's left of her is enough. All he needs is his family."

"I wish I knew how that feels." I said shaking my head.

"To loose someone you love?" she asked incredulously.

"To have anyone who loves me half as much as your father loves you." I said bitterly. "If it makes you feel any better Hallie you can compare your family to mine, it's an absolute mess."

"You don't live with them anymore right?" she asked.

"No I left two years ago." I admitted.

"Why?"

"We had disagreements on what sort of approaches we took on life."

"You don't want to talk about it?" she asked.

"No not really." I said darkly.

"Well too bad, I told you about my family you tell me about yours."

"Hallie, my family isn't like your family. They're bad people."

"So?"

"So I don't want to talk about it."

"It's only fair." She said glaring at me.

It wasn't fair, not really. Her telling me about her nice loving family was nothing like me admitting to the insanity I'd grown up with. But her gaze was so intense, it was slightly alarming and I realized why she was so insistent. Somehow I'd managed to break through her emotional wall, and she didn't like that I'd seen her upset. She wanted to level the playing field. Almost as if she'd thought she'd handed me a weapon and expected to get one in return.

"They're pureblood supremacists." I said bitterly and I saw her eyes go wide. "I left because they're evil, cruel, terrible people and I couldn't stand to live with them. There are you happy?"

"But they're your family, don't you-" she started but I cut her off.

"My family?" I asked bitterly. "Hallie my family isn't like yours, they don't give a damn about you unless you do what you're told. And for me that was to go against everything I ever believed or stood for. Can you really see me living that sort of life? Turning into one of them?"

"No." she said quietly. "I'm sorry."

"It's alright." I said not wanting to look at her. Suddenly I realized why she'd been so upset. Knowing that she knew just how much pain thinking about my family caused me was terrifying. I'd just given her something to hold over my head and use against me whenever she wanted.

"So does that make me you're rebellious teenage crush to piss off your parents?" she asked me grinning and I started at her. "What?" she asked defensively.

"Are you making a joke?" I asked her incredulously.

"Apparently not because you didn't laugh."

"I think I'm about to go into shock." I said smiling in amazement. "Are you actually trying to cheer me up?"

"Yeah, don't read to much into it." She said her face falling into the irritated scowl I found so familiar.

"I guess you really don't hate me after all Hal."

"I told you I don't hate you."

"Does this mean you'll go-"

"No." she said stiffly and I shrugged. It was progress.

We continued to walk to the Gryffindor tower each lost in our own thoughts until suddenly, she broke the silence.

"Sirius?" she asked.

"Yeah?"

"Don't ever call me Katie." She said darkly. "If you do and someone heard you I swear I will curse you so thoroughly even James wouldn't be able to recognize you."

"Relax, alright? I'm not going to tell anyone." I said and she looked at me where her expression wary. "You've always been Hallie to me, and you always will be." I continued. "Nothing is going to change that."


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Harry Potter series and any of the characters. All credit goes to my hero, the wonderful J.K. Rowling! :D

Hpov

Sirius backed off over the next couple of weeks giving me some much needed space as I tried to work things out in my mind. Contact with him was almost negligible except for polite conversation in class. I had to admit it was a little weird not having him around. Of course this meant if he wasn't annoying me, he had extra time to chase after other girls, but even when he was ignoring me, he seemed to be constantly running through my head. It scared me how accurately he'd seemed to assess my personality. The more I thought about it, the more I realized he was right, which was not an easy thing for me to accept. He was a player, a boy who broke girls' hearts for his own amusement, and yet he'd broken me down and figured me out with what seemed like apparent ease. How had he done it?

As if I'd entered some strange sort of role reversal, I found I was the one wanting to know about him now. What made him tick? How had he gotten to know me so well when all I wanted was to push him away?

And then there was the fact that he'd known my real name all this time, and never once brought it up. Not to his friends, or my friends, not even to me. How had he known it was so important to me? And why did he care? I'd always thought he loved to annoy me. It amused him when I gave him a reaction, but if that were the case, this would have been his ultimate weapon. The moment he'd seen that file he'd essentially been handed a loaded gun. But he hadn't used it. He'd kept my secret, even from his best friends because he thought it was possible that it was something I cared about. People didn't do that out of amusement. Was it possible that Remus and Alice were right? Did Sirius really care?

The first game of the quidditch season had just ended, and now everyone was back in the common room celebrating. We'd crushed Slytherin 240 to 30.

Sirius had scored seven of our nine goals before James caught the snitch, and the whole house thought he was quite the hero. I watched as girls flocked around him all batting their eye lashes and tossing their hair hoping to attract his attention. As always he was the life of the party.

I looked away as Valerie snaked her arms around him and he pulled her into a very enthusiastic kiss. Wolf whistles and cheers erupted all over the room, and I rolled my eyes.

'Hero.' I thought bitterly. 'Yeah he's a regular knight in shining armor.'

"Look at what James gave me." Lily said brightly taking the seat opposite mine at the desk by the window. It had a spectacular view of the Hogwarts grounds but I'd been so preoccupied I hadn't spared it a glance.

She held up her hand and I saw her fingers were closed around a tiny golden ball with intricate wings that were flapping excitedly, as if it too were enjoying the party. "It's the snitch from the game."

"That's awesome." I said grinning trying to force myself to be interested. Lily and James had been spending a lot of time together recently, and it was obvious that over the past couple weeks she'd started to fancy him. They were nearly always together, making inside jokes and getting into cutesy arguments that served no real purpose other than to give them an excuse to push each other. When they weren't together he was all she seemed to talk about these days, but if I was honest myself I hadn't been paying much attention. I'd been so lost in my own thoughts recently, things I would normally pay attention too just didn't seem to reach me. I knew I wasn't being a very good friend, but for a while now I felt as if I'd been viewing my life from inside a glass box. While I could see everything around me, interaction was difficult. It was like I was stuck in my own little world from which I just couldn't break free.

"Are you alright Hallie?" she asked frowning. Apparently I hadn't been very convincing.

"Yes."

"Don't lie." She said rolling her eyes. "You've been acting weird lately, really quiet and withdrawn. The last time you did this it took us three weeks until you told us your dog died, what's got you upset?"

"I'm not upset." I said frowning wondering if that was really true.

"Then what are you thinking about?"

"Nothing."

"Please, you've got that off in Hallie's thought land expression you always get when you're thinking. What's up?"

"It's just," I hesitated. "What's my favorite color?"

"What?" she asked confused.

"Do you know my favorite color?"

"It's blue isn't it?" she asked and I didn't answer but glanced back at Sirius. "Why?"

"No reason." I mumbled to the desk. "It's stupid really."

"Hallie," she said warningly. "We can do this the easy way, or I can go get Alice."

I felt my eyes go wide as I was filled with a creeping sense of horror.

"You wouldn't."

Alice was relentless when she wanted an answer. If Lily told her she thought I was upset, I wouldn't have a moment's peace until Alice had combed through every detail of any and every emotion I'd ever felt.

"I would."

"Fine." I said bitterly and she looked satisfied.

"What's on your mind?"

I thought for a moment, choosing my words carefully before speaking.

"Do you think Sirius and I could ever be friends?"

"That's what's been bothering you?" she asked in shock.

"Do you?" I asked pressingly. I figured if I was going to do this I might as well get it over with, I didn't want it to be drawn out.

"Well that's hard to say." She said frowning she too glanced at Sirius who was still snogging with Valerie in view of the entire party. "You and Sirius are very different in some ways, but at the same time, you're a lot alike."

"How so?"

"Well for one thing your both stubborn." She said looking back at me. "In fact, I think you two might be the most stubborn people I know, and you're both too smart for your own good. Neither of you like to be left alone with your thoughts, you constantly need to be doing something, with you it's either school work or working in the hospital wing, with Sirius it's either getting into trouble with his friends or chasing after girls, either way you're always after a challenge and both of you are used to being able to get people to do whatever you want."

I tried to tell her she was wrong, that Sirius and I were nothing alike, but now she was on a roll. I felt as if I'd rolled a snowball down a mountain, and accidentally started an avalanche.

"You both have a tendency to disregard people. Anyone who hasn't managed to earn you friendship are sort unimportant and you push them away. He breaks hearts, you sort of just ignore everyone who isn't your friend."

"That's not true." I said frowning.

"Hallie, who was the last person you talked besides me and Alice or the boys?" she asked raising an eyebrow. "And people in the hospital wing don't count." She added quickly and I found I had no reply.

"You both have very strong personalities, and I think that's why he irritates you so much and he likes irritating you. It's a power struggle and neither of you will budge," she said looking a little amused. "The only differences is unlike you, he finds it interesting to finally meet someone who won't give him what he wants so easily. He wants to figure you out where as you see him as a distraction from what you want."

"Which is?"

"To get out of school and become a healer. That's what you've always wanted isn't it?"

"And why would he be a distraction from that?"

"Because he keeps trying to force a relationship between you two that I think you think would take away focus from your goal." She said knowingly. "He sees you as his favorite challenge, and he's your biggest distraction."

"So if everything is a power struggle, he wouldn't be capable of caring about me." I said more to myself than Lily. "If all I am is a challenge, all the stuff he says and does, it doesn't really matter because it's all part of his game."

"Maybe." She said shrugging. "But I think you're over simplifying what I said."

"Then what did you mean?" I asked a little annoyed she hadn't actually answered my question. "Could we be friends or not?"

"I guess it could go both ways." She said shrugging. "You could be really good friends for what you have in common, or hate each other because you're so similar. It depends on how you approach it. Is he someone you're willing to trust, or you have to compete with?"

I frowned. If this were a competition, it was pretty much over. By finding that file Sirius had won, and yet he hadn't said anything. He hadn't used it against me, or told me even to hold it over my head. For over a year he'd acted as if he hadn't known, but I didn't understand why. Maybe because he knew it would make me upset?

Was it possible he really cared?

"Thanks Lily." I said.

"Er… you're welcome." She said looking confused. "What for?"

"You've just opened up a world of possibility." I said, not looking at her but at Sirius, and standing.

"Alright then." She said uncertainly.

"I'll see you around Lily."

"Bye."

I walked over to Sirius, who had finally let go of Valerie, and was entertaining a large group of students with the story of how he'd tricked a group of Slytherins into locking themselves in the dungeons in our second year.

"Can I talk to you?" I asked him when he'd finished and everyone was laughing. The moment I'd spoken the laughter died, and while the party continued, everyone around us had fallen silent. I didn't look at them, as they started to whisper, but continued to look at Sirius. Clearly, he was confused as they were.

"Sure." He said shrugging.

"Alone." I said pointedly.

"Now?" he asked uncertainly glancing towards a few very pretty girls who were smiling at him.

I nodded.

"Can't it wait?"

"Not really."

He hesitated for the slightest of moments, then looked back at me.

"Fine." He said his expression unreadable. "Let's go."

He took my hand and led me through the crowd of people towards the portrait hole and we stepped through it ending up in the deserted hall.

"What's this about Hallie?" he asked letting go of my hand and looking down at me while crossing his arms over his chest. It was strange hearing him say my name, and I realized he hadn't since he'd told me he knew it wasn't my real one.

"I told you, I wanted to talk."

"So start talking." He said and I looked around. I really didn't want to talk about this here, in the open where anyone could have heard us.

"Can we go somewhere more private?"

"Let me get this straight Hal." He said raising an eyebrow. "You want me to leave an awesome party, full of adoring fans, just because you want to talk?"

"Yes." I said simply.

"You really don't think it can wait?"

"It's now or never."

"What are you like giving me an ultimatum or something?" he asked raising an eyebrow.

"I'm giving you a choice." I said shrugging. "And you can either come with me or go back to your little fan girls, it doesn't matter to me what you decide."

"You're still a bad liar." He said grinning. "It does matter to you, I can tell."

"No it' doesn't."

"This is a test." He said with interest.

"As usual, I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Sure you don't." he said rolling his eyes and there was a pause. "So what happens if I go with you?" he asked.

"We talk." I said simply.

"But what does that mean?" he asked.

"It means I want to be friends with you Sirius." I said with a sigh. "But there's a few things we need to discuss. Details we need straightened out."

"What kind of details?"

"I guess you'll have to come with me to find out."

"And if I don't? What happens if I go back in there?" he asked looking at me curiously something strange glinting in his eyes. It was a strange combination of calculation and excitement. The words 'power struggle,' drifted from the back of my mind. He was in his element now, and he wanted to know what he could get away with, just how far he could push me but I wasn't going to put up with it. I wasn't going to be second best.

"Then we don't talk." I said simply.

"And you'll continue to hate me?"

"The choice is yours Sirius," I said started to walk down the hall wondering if he would follow. "You'd better make it."

"You know you're being a bit dramatic Hallie." Sirius said but he didn't sound angry, in fact, he sounded amused. I smirked as he caught up to me. "Did you have to make me choose?"

"Was it that difficult of a choice?" I asked him.

"No." he admitted and I fought back a smile. "But if we're doing this, you're going to have to follow me."

He put his arm around my shoulder and for once I didn't push it off.

"And why is that?" I asked playfully feeling in better spirits then I had been in weeks.

"Because I know a perfect place where we can," he paused and allowed himself a sarcastic smile before finishing with an exaggerated inflection on the last word. " _Talk_."


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Harry Potter series and any of the characters. All credit goes to my hero, the wonderful J.K. Rowling! :D

Thank you to the person who reviewed my story! I wasn't sure I was going to keep posting but you gave me the confidence to keep posting!

Spov

"How far are we going?" Hallie asked, jumping down from a fallen log, and landing back on the path. I was surprised how comfortable she seemed in the forbidden forest. All the girls I knew were terrified to even go near it, she however didn't look afraid. I remembered she had four brothers, all of whom played sports and seemed like the outdoorsy type. I figured she'd spent most of her childhood outside doing things like this.

"Not much farther." I assured her stepping off the path and she followed me through the maze of branches and tree trunks. It was a nice day and the sun was shining through the canopy of dark green leaves above us. Occasionally we'd step through patches of sunlight, and a light breeze would catch at her hair which I found extremely distracting.

It was the weekend, and as usual, she'd traded her school robes for muggle clothes, a red tank top and jean shorts. Inwardly I was thankful I'd worn one of my few muggle shirts under my quidditch robes that were now tossed over my shoulder. As strange as it felt to wear them, I kind of liked the fact she saw me in muggle clothes. She was muggleborn after all. I had the feeling it might have been easier for her to relate to.

"I didn't know you liked AC/DC." She said glancing at my shirt that had their logo across the chest.

"They're my favorite band."

"Mine too." She said grinning. "I'm actually going to see them over the break with Lily."

"Lily likes rock?" I asked skeptically.

"Some." She said but I could tell from her tone Lily wasn't a huge fan. "She's mainly going because the tickets are an early Christmas present from my Dad, and I don't want my brothers to start an all out war over who goes with me."

"Well I wish I could go." I said a little jealously. "I'd love to see them live."

A few minutes passed in silence was we walked through the trees and I was surprised when she broke it.

"So when you say they're your favorite band," she asked evidently her mind still on our previous conversation. "Do you mean your actual favorite, or like your favorite _muggle_ band?" she asked suspiciously putting an emphasis on the word.

"Favorite, favorite." I said with a laugh.

"That's a surprise." She muttered and I raised an eyebrow.

"What? Just because I'm a pureblood means I can't enjoy muggle music? That's a bit narrow minded don't you think?" and she rolled her eyes

"No, I was shocked because I didn't think you'd have much exposure to their music. Or are you telling me you grew up listening to muggle radio?" she shot back.

"Well it was a bit difficult to get my hands on their records." I admitted. "Even more difficult to hide them from my Mum, but I guess that's what made it such fun."

"You're such a rebel." She said sarcastically.

"Well someone's got to do it." I said giving her a swift smile and she rolled her eyes.

"So." She started giving me a look of interest. "If you're such a big fan, what's your favorite song? And don't say Back in Black." She said with a glower. "Otherwise I'm turning around and going right up back to school."

"Why because of my last name?"

"That's exactly why."

"Well you're in luck, because it's not my favorite song." I said grinning. "But picking my favorite, that's going to be hard." I paused. "I'm going to have to go with Shoot to Thrill."

"No it's not." She said shaking her head. "I refuse to accept that."

"Why?" I asked in shock.

"Because that's my favorite song by them." She said her eyes narrowed. "Did Remus tell you?"

"No."

"Are you lying?"

"No." I said annoyed. "Hallie, is it so impossible that we might actually have things in common?"

She didn't answer.

"You know, I'm surprised you're not objecting to this." I admitted offering a hand to help her over another log, which she ignored.

"Why would I?" she asked surprised landing easily next to me.

"Well we are breaking school rules by being in here." I pointed out. "And you've always been a straight edge kind of person."

"Please I've done far worse than this."

"You have?" I asked in amazement.

"Of course." She said amused, but then caught my expression. "What, you think I don't know how to have any fun?" she asked annoyed.

"I never said that." I said grinning and helping her over another log. "You just never have time for it."

"Well maybe you don't know me as well as you think you do." She said smirking.

The trees were starting to thin now, and more light was shining through the leaves. We took another few steps and emerged into a vast clearing the size of the quidditch pitch. In it was a slow moving stream that emptied into a small clear blue lake, and wild flowers that dotted the tall grass. As we stepped into the sunlight, and I realized that this was most likely some of the last warm weather we were going to have until the end of the school year.

This seemed to cross her mind to because she squinted up into the sky, then glanced at the lake.

"Do you want to swim?" she asked smiling.

"Swim?" I asked incredulously. "You drag me out of the party, away from my friends, have me bring you to the remotest place on school grounds just so we can talk. And now you want to swim?"

"We've been talking." She said shrugging. "Besides, I thought you wanted to be friends. This is the sort of things friends do."

"We don't have a change of clothes."

"So? It'll be fun."

"So I don't want to have to walk back to the castle in wet clothes."

"Don't be such a baby." She said impatiently and then smirked. "Or are you scared?"

"You think I'm scared?" I asked her feeling a mischievous smile appear on my face.

"I don't like that smile." She said suspiciously. "Sirius, what are you- Sirius put me down!"

I laughed and threw her over my shoulder as I ran for the lake and jumped in.

Hpov

Sirius and I didn't end up talking much, at least not about anything important. We'd spent a while in the lake then walked around the forest for a bit to let our clothes dry. We watched the sun set in the clearing and then started a fire, laying back in the grass as he pointed out constellations to me and we interrogated each other with any and every random question that popped into our minds. I was shocked to realize how much we actually had in common.

My clothes were mostly dry now, unlike my hair, which was still damp from the lake water and pulled back into a braid. The air was slightly chilly now and while it didn't seem to bother him, he'd noticed me shivering and offered to let me wear his quidditch robes. They were far too big but had long sleeves and were completely dry, he'd dropped them before jumping into the lake. I'd been hesitant to take them at first, but was grateful now. I was much warmer, even if they smelled like his cologne.

"Ok I've got one." I said grinning though I knew he couldn't see. There was very little light in the clearing with the exception of the fire. We couldn't even see the castle, and the only other light would have come from Hogsmead, which was miles away. The sky was almost completely pitch black, with the exception of the moon and the stars which I'd never seen so many of in my life.

"Shoot."

"Are you a dog person or a cat person?" I asked turning my head to look at him. He was lying next to me, his arms crossed behind his head, and I could tell from his silhouette that he had been looking at me. Suddenly I found I was grateful it was so dark, he wouldn't be able to see me blush.

"Dog person, definitely." He said and it sounded like he was trying not to laugh.

"What?" I asked intrigued.

"Nothing." He said shaking his head. "It's just an inside joke with me and my mates."

"Should I just get used to that?" I asked. "You not telling me things about your friends?"

"Probably."

I sighed, wondering what on earth I was getting myself into.

"What about you Hal? Which do you prefer?"

"I love dogs." I said smiling.

"That's good to know." He said softly still sounding amused. I wanted to know what was so funny but knew he wouldn't tell me. James, Remus, Peter, and Sirius were as close as friends got. He wouldn't have betrayed their trust for anything.

"Speaking of friends, I think you and I need to set down some ground rules."

"Oh are we friends now?" he asked grinning.

"Well you did pick pirates over ninjas." I said thoughtfully. "That makes you a pretty hard person to not like."

"And yet I bet you tried."

"Are you going to let me finish?"

"I'm sorry." He said but I could tell he wasn't. "Continue."

"Thank you." I said pointedly. "Anyways. If you and I are going to be friends, you've got to stop asking me out."

"Why?"

"Because it's very annoying." I said turning to look back up at the sky and suddenly feeling very small under the dark vast expanse. "It's hard to be friends with someone if you keep wanting to hex them. It messes up the dynamic."

"Fair enough." He said pleasantly. "But if you get to make a condition, so do I."

"I don't think so." I said darkly, I could only imagine what he'd expect me to do.

"Hallie, it's only fair."

"Fine." I said and against my better judgment I asked. "What is it?"

"One date." He said. "I get to choose the time, and the place. And you can't say no."

"Just one date?" I asked.

"Yup."

"And what are you expectations for this date?" I asked suspiciously.

"Nothing, no expectations whatsoever, you just have to show up."

"And you won't ask me out?"

"Nope."

"Ever again?"

"Never."

"Alright." I said. It sounded fair. "When?"

"That's a surprise." He said and I could tell he was grinning.

"I don't like surprises." I said frowning and he laughed.

"Why am I not shocked?"

There was long stretch of silence between us where we both continued to look up at the night sky. I thought of Alice's expression if she'd heard me agreeing to go out with Sirius on what seemed like a very mysterious date and immediately felt guilty. They were probably worried out of their minds wondering where I was.

"We should probably get back to the castle." I said wondering what time it was.

"Why?" Sirius asked.

"You're friends might be ok with you randomly disappearing for hours into the night, but mine have probably already formed a search party."

"You're perfectly safe." He said sounding unconvinced.

"I know that but they don't. Sirius it's different for girls, we worry, god only knows what they've convinced themselves has happened to me."

"Ok you're right," he said with a sigh. "But Hallie?"

"Yeah?"

"I need you to promise me something," he said quietly. "And I'm being completely serious."

"What?" I asked interested, resisting the temptation to make fun of his name.

"Don't try and wander around the grounds at night, at least not without me."

"You think this is going to become habit of mine?" I asked and he shrugged.

"I never know what to expect from you, I'm just being cautious."

"You don't strike me as a very cautious person." I said frowning and he let out a short laugh.

"Maybe not." He said still chuckling. "But when it comes to the people I care about I don't take chances."

"You know you don't have to protect me." I said sitting up and looking down at him. "I'm a big girl Sirius, I can take care of myself."

"I know." He said propping himself up on his elbows and looking at me, the fire light glittering in his suddenly intense eyes. "But even you can get hurt." He said cagily. "And there are bigger things out here than you."

"These bigger things." I said frowning. "They wouldn't have something to do with what you and your friends get up to, do they?"

"It's possible." He said grinning. "But you'll never know."

"I bet I can get you to tell me." I said leaning towards him, allowing myself to get just a little too close and he raised an eyebrow.

"I'd love to see you try." He said with a sexy smile and leaning closer as well.

I hadn't expected that, our lips almost touched and I quickly withdrew. He laughed.

"Here's a tip Hal." He said amused. He stood and looked down at me with an impish grin. "If you're going to try the seduction route, you've got to be all in. If you're not ready for that kind of commitment, you'd best leave it to the experts."

"And you consider yourself an expert?" I asked crossing my arms over my chest and looking up at him feeling somewhat defiant.

"There's nothing to consider."

"Oh really? Why is that?" I asked taking the hand he offered to help me up.

"Because there's only been one thing on this planet that I've wanted, that I haven't been able to get." He said not letting go of my hand and I realized slightly uncomfortably that we were very close. Again I noticed how intense his eyes seemed to be and the way they glittered in the firelight.

"Was it humility?" I asked trying to sound sarcastic but feeling a little breathless. He seemed to be even closer now, and we had already been much too close.

"No." He said quietly. "I never wanted that."

"Then what do you want?" I almost whispered.

It was hard to worry about Lily or Alice when he was looking at me like this, as if I were the most fascinating thing he'd ever seen in his life. I privately felt that if he'd asked me to stay with him, I would have said yes.

He didn't ask me though. Instead, he tucked a loose strand of hair that had fallen from my braid behind my ear and said.

"That would be you." He said letting his fingertips trace my jaw line then lift my chin slightly so I was forced to look into his eyes.

I stood there, rooted to the spot. Every part of my brain was screaming for me to move. Being here like this wasn't smart, but for some reason my body wouldn't respond. This feeling, whatever it was, was all consuming. I found myself wanting to be closer to him, he was the only thing I could focus on. My stomach tightened and my heart rate increased as I wondered if what I thought might happen was really about to happen…

It didn't.

"You're right though." He said letting go of me and I released a breath I didn't realize I'd been holding. "We should get you back to the castle. We wouldn't want your friends to worry."

I was half way to saying that they would be fine when I stopped myself. What was I thinking? No they wouldn't. I was already pushing my luck staying out this late, whatever time this late was. If I didn't get back soon I wouldn't be surprise to find my own missing person's report tomorrow morning in the paper.

I stared at Sirius realizing that some how he'd managed to make me forget nearly everything else in the world, as if nothing else mattered except for the fact that I was standing here with him.

How had he done that?

Finally regaining control of my body, I put out the fire and followed Sirius out of the clearing. He lit his wand and started picking his way through the trees as easily as he had in the daytime despite the fact it was the dead of night. I wondered if he'd known what I'd been thinking, and if he'd felt that crazy locked in place sensation as well.

"And by the way Hallie." He said smirking as if he could read my thoughts. "That's how an expert does it."

And at that moment, I knew that he'd known everything that had been going through my head. Unlike me, he knew exactly what he'd been doing.

"Where have you been?" Lily asked furiously when I made it back to the dormitory. It was two thirty in the morning and both she and Alice looked a nervous wreck. Even Valerie seemed a little concerned as I walked through the door.

"I was with Sirius." I said honestly and their reactions were so different, it was almost funny.

"WHAT?" Lily asked in utter confusion while Alice asked, "Really?" in a rather hopeful tone.

Any trace of concern vanished in Valerie's expression and she glared at me as I made my way towards my bed.

"Where did you guys go?" Alice asked eagerly while Lily still looked too stunned to speak.

"The forbidden forest."

"Oh dear god." Lily said running her fingers through her hair.

"Awesome." Alice chuckled. "Did you find anything cool? Are there really werewolves?"

"Not really." I said shrugging. "And I have no idea. It's not exactly the full moon is it?"

"Well then what did you guys do all this time?" Lily asked.

I thought back through the day, swimming in the lake, walking around in the woods, laying together stargazing. I was disturbed to realize that it almost sounded like a memory montage from some cheesy romantic comedy.

"We just talked." I said shrugging.

None of them spoke for a while and I knew that they didn't believe me. If I was honest with myself, I wouldn't have believed me either. Alice and Lily kept exchanging significant glances as they got ready for bed, but Valerie kept her gaze fixed on me. I tried to ignore her wondering why she was so angry. If she wanted Sirius to herself I wasn't going to stop her, I had absolutely no intention of getting in her way.

I got ready for bed then crawled under my blankets after turning off the lamp on my nightstand. Today had been very strange. Not only had I found out I had found out I had things in common with Sirius, but somehow, after only a short time back at school, he'd made the rather large transition from most irritating person on the planet to a friend and I wasn't exactly sure how that had happened. I closed my eyes and rolled onto my side trying not to think too much and ignore the questions that were chasing each other in the back of my mind. As much as I tried to get to sleep I couldn't. Despite the lateness of the hour I found myself wide awake. I couldn't help but wonder what I was getting myself into, and what would be the result of Sirius's and my attempt to be friends.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Harry Potter series and any of the characters. All credit goes to my hero, the wonderful J.K. Rowling! :D

Spov

Being friends with Hallie was wonderful, but also very strange. Even as October faded into November, I still had trouble adjusting to it. I was used to her looking annoyed when she saw me, not smiling. Before, talking to her had been a joint exercise in decoding sarcasm and dodging shots at my self-esteem. Now, she was perfectly friendly, even talkative, which was something I'd never noticed in her before mainly because around others, she wasn't a talkative person at all. Sure she'd participate in conversation if she was expected to, but for the most part, she was perfectly content to keep what she was thinking inside her head. The exception though, seemed to be when she was with me. She talked all the time and it was hard to tell, but she seemed to be even more willing to participate in a conversation with me than with Remus. Something that had never happened before.

She smiled at me when she entered the dungeons and I felt a strange mix of elation and dread.

"What's wrong with you?" she asked catching my expression and sitting down.

"Force of habit really." I said. "The last time you looked that cheerful around me was after you'd hexed me in fifth year." We had just won the quidditch cup and I'd drank a little too much fire whiskey at the post game celebration. One thing led to another and I'd tried to kiss her. Her curse sent me to the hospital wing for a week.

"You know it always amazes me how long it took her to get the tentacles off your face." Hallie mused.

"Yeah well you didn't help." I pointed out. Hallie, who'd been working at the hospital wing, refused to tell Madam Pomfrey what curse she'd hit me with. Instead she preferred to watch me struggle. "So you can understand why I wouldn't trust that smile."

"Relax will you?" she said rolling her eyes. "Seeing you just reminded me of something I wanted to tell you."

"Which is?" I asked curiously.

She grinned again but this time her eyes glittered slyly.

"I happened to over hear-"

"Which means you were spying," I interrupted her smirking.

"No actually, I wasn't." She said in irritation. "I was in the library."

"What a shock." I said rolling my eyes and she glowered.

"Will you let me finish?" she asked sharply.

"Ok, ok, I'm sorry." I said putting my hands up in defeat. "Continue."

"Finally." She said pointedly. "Anyways, I was in the library last night when I happened to hear a conversation between a certain James Potter and Lily Evans."

"Yeah?"

"Apparently they'd stayed late in the library after their meeting with the prefects to distribute this weeks passwords, and there was some major flirting going on." She said knowingly.

"Really? How could you tell?" I asked interestedly. It wasn't unusual for James to try and flirt with Lily, but she'd never reciprocated before.

"Well, James was acting pretty normal, but Lily is always the same when she's flirting with a guy." She said lowering her voice as James and Lily entered the classroom. "Just watch."

I looked at the two and saw that Hallie was right. There was something different about the way Lily was acting.

"You see that?" she asked as Lily tossed her hair over her shoulder and fixed James with a radiant smile. "Lily always does that little hair flipy flirty grin thing when ever she fancies a guy."

"Sorry?" I asked distracted momentarily from Lily and James. I raised an eyebrow at Hallie and tried to keep a straight face. "Did you actually just say hair flipy flirty grin thing?"

"Oh shut it." She said scowling. "Like you have a better name for it."

"How about sexy hair toss and smile?"

"You just think you're good at everything don't you?" she asked me tersely.

"Pretty much."

"You're insufferable." She said rolling her eyes and looking back at our friends. "This is an interesting development though. I'd say we're one Hogsmead weekend away from being best friend in laws."

"Excuse me?" I asked her frowning.

"Best friend in laws." She repeated but I still didn't understand.

"What in the name of Merlin's beard is a best friend in law?" I asked her.

"You know, two people who are forced to spend a lot of time together when their best friends start dating."

"Do normal people actually say that, or is it just you?" I asked her still trying not to laugh.

She shot me a look but before she could retaliate Slughorn had entered the dungeon and the class fell silent.

"Good morning everyone." He said brightly and there was a general murmur of greeting from the class. "Today we will be starting a very exciting unit." He said happily making his way towards the front of the room. He reached his desk and took the lid off an enormous cauldron that rested on it. In the cauldron was a pearly looking potion with thick steam swirling up from it. Immediately, I was hit with a strange, but familiar sensation as the classroom filled with an intoxicating scent. It smelled like roses and the sweet spicy smell of cinnamon in Mrs. Potter's home made apple tart, my favorite dessert. I smiled as my brain seemed to slow, my thoughts misguided by the enticing aroma and distracted by the spirals of steam. For some reason it made me think of Hallie and just how pretty she looked today with her deep blue eyes that were staring at the potion.

"Blimey Sirius, how much cologne did you put on this morning?" she asked looking a little overwhelmed, her tone breathless.

"What are you talking about?" I asked confused. The scent was very distracting and I found myself wrestling with a desire to play with her hair.

"Your cologne, I can smell it from here." She said frowning. "It smells like Old Spice."

I had no idea what Old Spice was or what she was even talking about.

"I'm not wearing any cologne." I said puzzled. It wasn't unusual for me to wear it, but I'd woken up late this morning and didn't have time.

"Then why do I smell it?" she asked looking up at me her expression dazed. Her eyes met mine, and suddenly, I was grabbed by an urge to bend down and kiss her.

"Hallie I-" I started but was immediately cut off.

"Amortentia." Slughorn said happily, beaming at the class and we both jumped. He shut the lid of the cauldron and the scent dissipated leaving the class in confusion. Hallie's face burned bright red and she quickly turned back to her books. I saw that other people were looking just as confused as I felt. "One of the most powerful potions in existence, and without a doubt the strongest love potion in the world."

"Love potions aren't powerful." Hallie said skeptically.

"I beg to differ." I said sourly and she smirked.

"That's right, you've been slipped a love potion a couple times haven't you?"

"Three times." I said stiffly. "And I hope never to have a fourth."

Being under the influence of a love potion was one of the most wonderful and yet terrible experiences in the word. The effect varied depending on the strength of the potion, but it usually started out the same. My mind had been clouded until I could hardly think. It was filled with a blissful empty sort of fog that left no room for thoughts or inhibitions, but created intense emotions and attractions. The first one had just sort of taken control of my senses and I'd sort of blacked out, doing whatever the girl told me to until James had gotten ahold of me and tied me to a chair until the effects wore off. The second and third had actually made me see things differently, the girls had looked like someone else, but again, I couldn't remember anything that had happened, let alone who I'd thought they were.

"In our first unit we will be studying love potions, and other emotion enhancing elixirs." Slughorn continued. "During this term we will look at how certain potions and their ingredients can affect the senses, trick them into telling you something is there when it is not, and their ability to fabricate sensations and emotions that you are not actually experiencing."

I tuned out Slughorn's lecture and glanced at Hallie who seemed to be having trouble concentrating on the notes she was taking. From the set of her shoulders I knew she could tell I was watching her, but for once she didn't tell me to look away.

I spent the rest of the class simply watching her take notes, hardly aware of the passing time and I was surprised to hear the bell ring.

"Homework." Slughorn said and I glanced up at the board. "List the seven stages of sensational stimulation and write an essay on how emotion enhancing elixirs use this process to effect the human mind as a means of control."

"I'm guessing you didn't understand a word of that?" Hallie said looking at me as she shouldered her school bag.

"What makes you say that?"

"Well you weren't paying attention were you?"

"Not to Slughorn, no." I admitted and she blushed.

"Well we can work on it together if you want." She said. "Tonight in the library."

"Isn't that sort of a you and Remus thing?" I asked feeling a little surprised. Hallie had never invited me to study with her, even since we'd been friends. I'd always thought she'd think I'd try and distract her.

"Usually it is." She said shrugging. "But he said he was busy tonight but he wouldn't tell me why."

With a jolt I remembered that tonight was the full moon.

"Yeah I forgot we had plans."

"What sort of plans?" she asked curiously.

"Just guy stuff."

"Which means you're getting into trouble, doesn't it?" she said knowingly.

"It's possible."

She rolled her eyes. "Some other time then I guess."

"Yeah definitely." I said nodding.

"I'll see you around then Sirius." She said grinning slightly as she walked away to meet up with her friends.

I packed up my things then followed Hallie out of the classroom to where James and Remus were waiting in the corridor.

"I swear mate." James said dreamily as I caught up with them. "I'm going to marry her."

"What are you talking about?" I asked confused while watching Hallie out of the corner of my eyes.

"Evans." He said happily putting an arm around both Remus and my shoulders.

"You know if she really is your future wife, you might want to start calling her by her first name." Remus said amused and then when he spotted my confused look he continued. "I think Prongs here had a rather strong reaction to the love potion."

"Lily Potter." James said in wonder, apparently unaware of what Remus had just said to me. "I like the sound of that."

"Prongs, as your best mate it's my job I'm obligated to tell you how pathetic you sound right now." I said rolling my eyes.

"What about you and Benson?" James asked his expression suddenly much more lucid.

"What about her?" I asked uneasily.

"Well you just couldn't keep your eyes off her could you?" Remus said smirking.

"Shut up Moony." I said but James laughed.

"Oh relax mate." He said bracingly. "There's nothing wrong with being in love."

"I am NOT in love with Hallie." I said sharply.

"Then what are you with her?" Remus asked raising an eyebrow.

"That's a good question." I said frowning, remembering how strong the desire had been for me to kiss her. My eyes landed on Hallie, who was farther down the hall, talking animatedly to her friends. She'd seemed a little different lately, and I wasn't sure if that was because I was getting to know her better or if Hallie herself was starting to change. She seemed to laugh more easily, and was smiling a lot more. In general she seemed happier just by the little things like now, when she was with her friends. She seemed excited and was talking with her hands. Something I'd never noticed her doing before. Just the other day I caught her playing cards with Lily and Alice, instead of working while they played.

"And what's the answer?" James asked curiously.

"I'm not sure." I admitted watching as her long hair swung as she walked. "I guess for right now, we're friends."


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Harry Potter series and any of the characters. All credit goes to my hero, the wonderful J.K. Rowling! :D

Hpov

Over the next couple of weeks, my prediction that Sirius and I would be spending a lot of time together had come true. When the boys weren't at quidditch practice or getting into trouble, and we weren't studying, the girls and I found ourselves almost entirely in the their company. We all sat together at meals now, hung out with each other in the common room, and I was surprised to find that Sirius wasn't completely unbearable. He still had a tendency to act like an arrogant prat sometimes, but he did have his moments where he was actually quite fun to be around. For the first time in all my years at Hogwarts, I wasn't as worried about homework or how often I volunteered at the hospital wing. With Sirius around, I found myself having fun. At any rate, I didn't dread sitting next to him in potions any more, and while he'd stopped stealing my things, and although he kept his promise and to no longer asking me out, roses continued to pop up where I least expected them. I'd taken to keeping them now, and even looked forward to finding them. At this point if he kept it up, I'd have to find another vase.

The flowers seemed to annoy Valerie who'd been treating me to an icy silence over the past couple of days. Every time she spotted them on my nightstand she seemed to stiffen and her gaze turned into a glare.

"She's just jealous." Alice said from behind her copy of the 'Evening Prophet' when I brought it up to her in the common room. It was one of the rare times she and I were alone together. They boys had vanished after dinner and Lily was off, presumably with James, on Head Girl duties. "You know she's always been obsessed with Sirius and he's made it pretty obvious that he's after you."

I frowned. "Alice, I saw him kissing two girls just yesterday." I said not exactly sure why it annoyed me.

"Well you can't expect him not to when you won't date him." She said reasonably and I remembered my thoughts on her reaction if she knew that I owed Sirius one date.

"Are you actually sticking up for him snogging every girl in the castle?"

"I don't think he's actually doing anything wrong." She said folding the paper and looking at me. "If you two were dating it would be different. But you're not. Why should he miss out on other girls when you refuse to go out with him?"

"Do you honestly think he'd stop sleeping around with other girls if I agreed to go out with him?"

"I dunno Hal." She said shrugging. "And neither will you unless you give it a try."

I wasn't exactly sure what to say to this so I decided to change the subject.

"Are you done with that?" I asked her, gesturing towards the paper and she nodded. "Can I see?"

She handed me and the paper and I opened it at random, mainly to give myself something to do. My eyes fell on a headline that read.

'Missing Witches and Wizards Found Dead in London.'

I scanned the article. It was a follow up story to an story they'd run over the summer about five people that had gone missing, three witches two wizards, who'd just simply vanished without a trace.

"Did you see this?" I asked showing her the article and she nodded.

"It's awful isn't it?" she asked sadly.

"Yeah. Do they know who did it?" I asked having not finished the story before I asked.

"No."

"It says here they were all muggleborns." I said quietly looking at the last few lines. "Do you think it could be...?" I started my but my voice faded and even though I didn't finish my question, I knew she had understood. An uneasy silence passed between us.

There had been some strange rumors going around recently, about a group of witches and wizards going around calling themselves the 'Death Eaters' and practicing dark magic. Lily's creepy ex friend Severus wanted to be one apparently, so did most of the people in Slytherin, but I would never have guessed that anyone I'd known at Hogwarts would do anything like this. It seemed unreal.

"Frank seems to think so." Alice said gravely.

"Why?"

"Well." She said glancing around quickly before lowering her voice and leaning closer to me. "Don't tell anyone about this because I'm not supposed to know. It was the aurors who found them. They were apparently on the trail these death eaters, and it lead them straight to the bodies." She gave me a significant look. "And they all showed the signs of being exposed to dark magic."

"So they're not any closer to finding him?" I asked frowning.

"No." she said shaking her head. "I just wish there was something I could do about it."

"What can you do?" I asked her suspiciously. "If the ministry can't find him how could an unqualified witch?"

"The ministry isn't the only one looking." She said cryptically.

"What do you mean?"

Again she looked around before quickly saying. "Ok don't tell anyone I told you this, but over the summer Frank was approached to join an order."

"What, like a secret society?" I asked frowning.

"Yeah."

"Did he?"

She nodded.

"Who are they?" I asked curiously

"I'm not sure, he won't tell me, all he says is that it's a group of witches and wizards all dedicating to fighting the dark arts. Apparently, it's full of all sorts of important people."

"Like who?"

"Like I said he won't tell me." She said looking irritated. "He says I should focus on school and he doesn't want me worrying about this sort of stuff until I'm 'fully qualified.'" She said using her fingers as quotations. "But it's cool right? To think that someone's starting a resistance."

"I guess." I said frowning, although to me it sounded more like suicide. "But this has to be very dangerous though. Do they really think they can do a better job than the ministry?"

"The ministry is corrupt Hal, it has been for years." She said shaking her head. "At least these people are doing something, and sometimes actions is more affective when it's taken outside of the law. And with all these deaths and disappearances cropping up all the time, I'm starting to wonder if the ministry is really doing anything at all."

We didn't get to speak more on the subject though because the portrait hole swung open and Lily walked in looking a little disappointed.

"Hey Lil." Alice said. "Why the long face?"

"Where's James?" I asked frowning.

"Gone." She said shrugging. "Apparently he and his friends have plans tonight which means they're probably getting into trouble. What are you two doing?" she asked.

I glanced at Alice and we exchanged a look, silently agreeing not to tell Lily about the article. She always got so upset when someone mentioned Death Eaters.

"Nothing really." She said quickly. "Just debating the likelihood of Sirius being able to behave himself if Hallie ever agreed to go out with him."

"Are you considering it?" she asked curiously her eyes bright. While nothing was official yet, she and James had been on several dates now and I could tell she was thinking about possible double dates in the future.

"No." I said forcefully and I could see she looked a little disappointed. "And since when is everybody on board with this whole me and Sirius thing?"

"I've always been on board with it." Alice pointed out.

"Yeah but she hasn't." I said pointing to Lily.

"Well," she said sounding as if she were choosing her words carefully. "I dunno Hal, that was before I saw you two hanging out together."

"What do you mean?"

"Well," she said again. "Now don't take this the wrong way Hallie. Because you're brilliant and I would never change you but you've always been a little… What's the word I'm looking for?" she asked appealing to Alice.

"Intense?" she supplied and Lily nodded.

"Exactly, you've always been so focused on school."

"Lily I want to be a healer." I said frowning. "That requires top grades."

"And that's perfectly fine." She said quickly. "But honestly Hal, sometimes we worry that you're pushing yourself too hard and that you're not really happy. But ever since he's been around… You've been different."

"So?" I said flatly.

"So?" Alice asked incredulously. "Hallie over the last couple of weeks you've been happier than we've ever seen you."

"And you think it's because I've been spending time with Sirius?" I asked incredulously and they exchanged cautious looks before Lily said.

"Well, yeah."

It amazed me how two simple words could hit me like a pillowcase full of bricks. No one said anything for a while, and her sentence hung there awkwardly until Alice decided to break the silence.

"I know what we need." She said happily.

"What?" Lily and I asked in unison.

"A girls night." She declared.

I groaned and Lily giggled excitedly.

"It will be great." Alice continued. "No homework or studying from now until tomorrow. We can do our nails, talk about boys, and pig out on junk food."

"Do I have to?" I asked I had a Transfiguration essay I really wanted to finish tonight so I could spend sometime in the hospital wing tomorrow.

"Yes, you have to." she said threateningly.

"You know I'm not one for the hair braiding and nail painting and stuff." I complained.

"Oh relax Hallie, it will be fun." Lily said.

"Fine. But if I do this will you guys agree stop bothering me about Sirius?" I said mainly talking to Alice but including Lily for good measure.

"I agree to nothing." Alice said grinning evilly.

"Of course you don't." I said annoyed but standing and following them up towards the dormitory.

That night I had a weird dream.

 _I was in a football jersey with Sirius's face as the logo on the front. I was standing in front of James, Remus, and Peter who were sitting at a table in the middle of a football pitch. They were all glancing back and forth between clipboards and me._

 _"This is applicant number three hundred and fifty four," Peter said in a matter of fact tone. "Her name is Katie Benson and this is her first time applying for the position."_

 _"How do you know that's my name?" I asked, but they ignored me._

 _"Ah yes, she is one of my favorites." Remus said making a note and acting as if I wasn't even here. "He really is quite fond of her."_

 _"Let's just hope she lasts longer than the others." James said laughing good-naturedly as if they were commentators announcing for a sports game._

 _"Where am I?" I asked looking around. "What's going on?"_

 _"You're at tryouts." Remus said kindly._

 _"For what?"_

 _"Read the sign." James said impatiently pointing towards the far end of the pitch where Sirius was, surrounded by a crowd of adoring girls, standing under a huge banner that read 'Sirius's girlfriends.' He smiled at me with that charming, irresistible smile, and winked causing all of the girls around him to giggle and sigh happily._

 _"So Katie." Peter said drawing my attention back to the table. "Why do you want to be Sirius's girlfriend?"_

 _"I don't." I said frowning._

 _"Don't be ridiculous, you're here aren't you?" Remus said rolling his eyes._

 _"Yeah, stop playing hard to get Kate." James said still sounding irritated. "It was cute for a while, but at this point it's only gonna hurt your chances."_

 _"What?" I asked totally confused._

 _"Why do you think you would be a good fit for Sirius?" Remus asked pleasantly rather as if this was a beauty pageant and I was auditioning for a role on Miss Universe. "What makes you think you're qualified for this position?"_

 _"I'm not!"_

 _"C'mon on Hallie," James said, but his voice was different now. It sounded scared. "He doesn't have time for this."_

 _"What?" I asked confused as the scene dissolved around me. My vision was fading to black but James's voice was as loud as ever, in fact, it was getting louder, the fear more pronounced._

 _"Hallie, Sirius doesn't have time for this. Wake up."_

"Huh?" I asked confused as my eyes flew open and I realized someone was shaking me.

"Hallie wake, up we need your help."

"James?" I asked confused but his hand flew to my mouth.

"Quiet." He said whispered urgently. "I don't want to take anyone up. Can you promise that?"

I nodded and he let go.

"James what the hell?" I hissed realization hitting me that some how he'd managed to sneak into the girls dormitory. It was dark, but I was just able to make out his figure silhouetted next to my bed by light of the full moon outside. "How did you get up here?"

"I don't have time to explain." He said whispered quickly sounding desperate. "I just need you to come with me."

"Why?" I asked sitting up.

"Come on." He said grabbing my arm and dragging me out of the dormitory.

"What is going on?" I asked trying to pull out of his grip but he wouldn't let go.

"Sirius is hurt." He said shortly, his voice strained. "He's hurt really badly."


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Harry Potter series and any of the characters. All credit goes to my hero, the wonderful J.K. Rowling! :D

Again thanks to the people who have reviewed! It really does help motivate me to keep posting. Thank you so much, you guys are awesome!

Hpov

James led me out of Gryffindor tower and seemed surprisingly unconcerned about getting caught by a teacher as we wandered around the castle at two thirty in the morning. Occasionally, he paused and glanced at an old piece of parchment that looked as if it had been folded many times, but whenever I tried to get a proper look at it, he stashed it in his pocket and we kept moving. Eventually, he let me go as we reached a blank stretch of wall on the seventh floor, and he began to pace, all the while muttering to himself.

"James?" I asked a little unnerved. "Are you ok?"

He didn't answer only closed his eyes and kept muttering in apparent concentration. Just as I was starting to worry that he'd lost his mind a door popped into existence on the wall.

"What the-?" I started in amazement but James grabbed me again, wrenched the door open, and pushed me through it. When I crossed the threshold, I felt my mouth fall open.

I was inside a room I'd never seen before. There was only one bed next to a window that was opposite a long counter with a sink, and a series of shelves above it. Scales, a cauldron, and flasks for potions lined the walls along with books on healing and medical guides. It looked like a very small version of the hospital wing.

"Did you find her?" I heard Peter's voice squeak anxiously.

"Yeah she's here." James said letting go of me.

"James what is gong on?" I asked but my question was answered when my eyes fell on the bed again and I realized that someone was in it.

"Oh my god." I gasped running over to a pale Sirius who was lying down his arm over a slashed and bloodied chest. I felt the urge to scream but controlled it as old repressed memories began to surface, paralyzing me with fear. "Sirius." I said quietly my heart slamming itself against my ribcage as if it were trying to break out.

'This can't be happening.' I thought feeling my body start to shake. 'Not again…'

"Hey Hal." He said his voice tight and weak with pain.

"What HAPPENED?" I asked horrified. My brain was reeling, he was covered in blood.

"We can't exactly tell you that." Peter said quietly and I was brought back to reality.

"He needs the hospital wing!"

"He won't go." James said softly his eyes terrified as he looked down at his best friend.

"Why not?"

"We weren't supposed to be, where we were when this happened." Sirius said closing his eyes and leaning his head back against the pillows.

"Does that matter right now?" I asked.

"It does to me."

"James this is mad." I said looking back at him. "Sirius needs medical attention, now."

"That's why you're here." Sirius said.

"Shut up Sirius." I said furiously still looking at James. "Talk some sense into him."

"We've tried, he won't go." Peter said quietly.

"So stun him if you have to!" I shouted and Peter took a step back, plainly terrified. A wild series of emotions were running through me, anger, terror, and something that felt surprisingly like pain. Seeing Sirius like this made me feel like I was seven again, watching horrified, unable to do anything.

"Hallie calm down." Sirius said and I looked back at him. He sounded exhausted, his voice weak, but he smiled slightly when his hand found mine and I gripped it tightly. "I'll be ok."

"You need a healer." I said furious at both him and myself as tears form in my eyes.

"He said he wanted you." James said quietly.

"But I can't fix this!" I said looking at him wildly.

"You fix people all the time." Sirius said his eyes still closed.

"I've never dealt with anything this severe." I said desperately.

"You can do it." He assured me. It was strange, he was the one lying there inches form death, and yet I was the one being comforted.

"Sirius, whatever secret you're trying to keep right now, it's not worth dying for!" I shouted at him, angry tears running down my cheeks and I realized, I didn't want to lose him.

He didn't answer, his hand had gone slack and I knew he must have passed out.

"Hallie, either you do this, or no one does." James said and it was as if his words had turned a switch in me. Instantly, all the horror and confusion I'd been feeling was shrunken down and stored into a dark corner in the back of my mind. I could freak out later. Going to pieces would do nothing for anyone right now.

I let go of Sirius's hand and immediately began looking through the cabinets. I was pleased to see they were stocked with what looked like everything I needed for potion making.

"Is there anything we can do to help?" James asked as my hands automatically found the ingredients I needed and began measuring them.

"Get a cauldron ready and set the flame on the lowest level." I said. "Peter, make some bandages out of one of those extra sheets." I said gesturing towards an open linen cabinet to my left.

"Do you think he'll be ok?" Peter asked me worriedly as he grabbed the sheets.

"Sirius is an idiot." I said furiously while adding lacewings into the cauldron. "But he also tends to be pretty lucky, I'd be very surprised if he didn't make it out of this alive."

Spov

When I woke up, the first thing I was aware of was pain. My head hurt and my chest felt as if someone had torn the skin open with a jagged knife a couple times. As scenes from the attack came back, I realized that was pretty much what had happened. But you couldn't expect to run around with a werewolf without a few mishaps.

I opened my eyes and winced as they adjusted to the early morning light streaming through the window.

"Welcome back." Said a familiar voice. I blinked and Hallie came into focus, her deep blue eyes looking down at me in concern. "How are you feeling?"

I was struck with a sudden sense of déjà vu and I realized that those were the exact same words she'd said to me when I'd woken up to see her in our fourth year.

"Like I've been slammed into a wall." I groaned while sitting up and resting my elbows on my knees. "Repeatedly."

"Drink this." She said handing me a glass full of a periwinkle potion. I took a drink and immediately the pain lessened. The potion tasted light and fresh, like the way I'd imagine flowers would taste. "Better?" she asked.

"Yeah," I said nodding. "Thank you."

"Finish it." She said sternly.

I did as she instructed and steadily began to feel much better. The pain was almost entirely gone.

"You know Sirius, you've faked a lot of injuries to get my attention, but don't you think the near death experience was a little extreme?"

"You think I did this for you?" I asked her raising an eyebrow.

"Well I couldn't think of any rational reason as to why you'd allow yourself to be mauled then refuse to seek medical treatment, so I stuck with something I knew." She said shrugging. While she looked as if she didn't care, her lip was trembling slightly, and I noticed her eyes were rather red. Had she been crying?

Once again I found myself wondering if sarcasm was her default for rebuffing difficult situations.

We looked at each other for a moment, neither of us speaking. She seemed to be organizing her thoughts, as if she wanted to ask something but decided against it, but eventually she was the one to break the silence.

"So." She said looking at me with suspicion. "You're not going to tell me what beat the crap out of you, are you?" She asked me.

"No." I said shaking my head. I wouldn't betray Remus's secret for anything, not even her.

"You do realize that it could help me fix this." She said tapping the wounds on my chest and I felt a shock go through me as her fingers touched my skin

"You seem to be doing a pretty good job on your own." I said catching her hand as she started to draw it away, trapping it to my chest with my own. The feeling intensified.

"It might help with the scars." She said her voice a little uneven.

"I don't mind." I said shrugging, but she still looked upset so I figured I might as well distract her with something be annoyed with.

"They're very manly." I continued smirking. "Besides, scars get girls all excited."

"I'll try to contain myself." She said rolling her eyes, this time managing to pull her hand away.

"You'd better." I said grinning. "I'm a person with feelings, you know. Not just your piece of very appealing eye candy."

"I should have let you bleed just a bit more." She said her eyes narrowing and I laughed.

"Why so you could spend more time with me as you nursed me back to health?" I asked. "That's very sweet of you Hal, but how could you restrain yourself from throwing yourself at me?"

"I think I'll manage." She said grinning and walked towards the counter.

I slid off the bed, wanting to follow her but she turned and said. "Sit."

"Whatever you said healer Hallie." I said amused and sitting back on the bed. "Do you think I'll ever recover?"

"From this?" She asked gesturing towards my chest as she walked back to me a thick yellow potion in her hand. "Yes. From your continual reckless self-endangerment and apparent fascination with risk?" she frowned. "I'm not sure. That might be a lost cause."

"Well a sponge bath couldn't hurt." I said grinning at her and she raised an eyebrow. "And a sexy nurse costume. You know, the ones muggles wear, with the short white dress and the low cut top."

"I'll instruct James to give you one then." She said smirking. "Although I don't think we'll find a costume in his size."

"You're no fun." I said shuddering at the thought of James in a nurse's uniform.

"And you're an idiot." She said giving me a significant look. "But you don't hear me complaining."

I grinned.

"Why do you do this to yourself?" She asked sitting next to me on the bed and dipping a rag in the potion as she looked sideways at me. "Doesn't it scare you how bad this could have been? Or do you lack the innate sense of self preservation?"

"What can I say?" I said feeling the corner of my mouth twitching into a slight smile. "I'm a bad boy who enjoys doing naughty things."

"Like getting your ass kicked." She said skeptically and my smile grew as she dabbed the yellow potion onto my chest.

"Don't be so uptight Hallie." I said meeting her gaze. "You should know by now that the dangerous things are the most fun."


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Harry Potter series and any of the characters. All credit goes to my hero, the wonderful J.K. Rowling! :D

Hpov

"Hallie wake up!"

"What?" I asked confused, my head jerking upward. I looked down to see my open transfiguration textbook that I'd been using as a pillow, then around to see I was in the library with an annoyed Alice and a Remus who looked just as exhausted as I felt. Sirius hadn't told me why Remus wasn't with the others last night, but from the way he was looking, he'd seemed to have a rough night as well. His face was pale and there were dark shadows under his eyes. Not for the first time I wondered why he always seemed to get so sick, but I decided just to let it go for now, I didn't want to think. I was too exhausted from waking up so early and being so stressed trying to heal Sirius, I'd been falling asleep in classes all day. The boys hadn't even bothered to show up for lessons today. We'd only now just met up with Remus.

"Blimey what is it with you two?" she asked suspiciously.

Remus met my gaze. He was clearly wondering what I would tell Alice and exactly how much I knew, but I was spared the need to come up with an excuse when Lily practically bounced into the library with a wide grin. She was positively giddy with excitement.

"You're happy." I noted as she took the seat next to Alice still beaming.

"James asked me to be his girlfriend." She said her face flushed with pleasure.

"What did you say?" Remus asked her and we all stared at him in amazement.

"Yes, can't you tell?" I asked him incredulously.

"I'm tired." He muttered. "Don't judge me."

"How did he ask you?" Alice asked looking back at Lily excitedly.

"Ali it was so sweet." She said. "He told me to meet in the common room because McGonagall wanted to talk to the Head Boy and Girl but when I got there it had been decorated with fairy lights and he had a bouquet of lilies." She sighed happily. "And then he asked me."

"That's so adorable!" Alice practically shrieked and both girls collapsed into a fit of giggles earning us many dirty looks from the people studying around us.

While Lily was right, the gesture was very sweet and perfect for her, I couldn't help but feel James had gone a little overboard. I'd never been one for the whole romantic over the top displays of affection.

"I know, and his family is going to the Bahamas over the break and he asked me to go!"

"Wait." I said frowning. "The whole break?"

"Yeah," she said happily. "Why?" But then her eyes went wide. "Oh my god I completely forgot." She said clapping her hand to her forehead and looking at me guiltily. "The concert… Hallie I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it." I said quickly knowing she was about to suggest she go tell James she couldn't go with him over the holidays after all.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah." I said smiling despite my disappointment. "I'll just bring one of my brothers. You and James have fun."

"You're the best!" she said happily then she and Alice launched into a rapid dialogue about this weekend. There was a Hogsmead visit planned and Frank was coming up to visit Alice. They immediately they began planning double dates in cozy little tea shops and cutesy cafes, all of which sounded like torture to me. For some reason, the fact that I still had a surprise date with Sirius coming up entered my thoughts. I shuddered, hoping that whatever Sirius had in mind was nothing like what Lily and Alice were planning. Just the thought of being stuck with him in the middle of a bunch of kissing couples was alarming.

"What's on your mind?" Remus asked.

"Nothing really." I said shrugging. It was strange how a year ago I would have been dying to be making these plans with Alice and Lily if it meant that I were dating him, but these days that wasn't what I wanted at all.

"You can relax Hallie." He said grinning and lowering his voice as Alice and Lily prattled on. "I don't think Sirius is planning to take you to a coffee shop."

"He told you." I said flatly. I should have known…

"Of course he did." Remus said easily. "We're friends."

"So then you can tell me what he's planning?"

"No I couldn't actually."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't know."

"But even if you did know, you wouldn't tell me would you?" I asked him suspiciously.

"That's right." He said with a grin. "What kind of friend would I be if I did?"

"My friend." I pointed out.

"Sorry Hal." He said amused. "But you're just going to have to wait and find out."

I groaned.

I hated waiting. Delaying gratification was not my strong suit, and I wanted to know what he was planning now. Part of me wondered if Sirius had figured this out about me, as well as various other things I'd been trying to hide from everyone, let alone him. To me it felt as if he were dragging this out on purpose just to drive me crazy. It sounded like something he would do. It was as if he knew that by not telling me when it was or what we'd be doing, it would be the only thing that was on my mind and I was sure that Sirius would find that highly amusing.

"I hate him." I muttered darkly and Remus chuckled.

"Now we both know that's a lie Hal."

Spov

After being slashed by a werewolf, the guys and I agreed I needed some time off from work. This meant I didn't see Hallie again until Friday, when I returned to lessons, and I was amazed to see she was in a much better mood than I expected.

"Look what the hippogriff dragged in." She said amused when she spotted me in Transfigurations and I was surprised when she took the seat next to mine. A couple of girls on the other side of the room shot her rather jealous expressions but she ignored them. "Have you decided to grace the class with your presence today?"

"I have."

"Just be careful around sharp edges." She said in mock severity. "We wouldn't want you to get a paper cut and have to be sent to the ICU unit in St. Mungo's now would we?"

"I'm sorry did you almost bleed to death a few days ago?" I asked raising an eyebrow.

"No, but I did watch you recover."

"Why are you so sassy today? Did you miss me?" I asked grinning and she smiled.

"You should be so lucky. How are you feeling?" she asked glancing at my chest.

"Fine." I said honestly. "Thanks to you."

"You know you had me worried there for a bit." She said looking away from me, apparently too embarrassed to admit this while making eye contact. She watched as James and Lily walked in holding hands, followed by Remus and Alice who were having a debate on something, and as usual Alice seemed to be winning.

"You were worried about me?" I asked quietly.

"Don't go getting a big head Sirius." She said rolling her eyes. "I'm already amazed you can fit through doors with such a big ego."

"There's an inappropriate joke in there somewhere." I muttered shooting her a half smile.

"Oh shut up."

"Hallie, you agree with me right?" Alice asked as she and Remus sat at the table next to ours while Lily and James took the table to their left.

"That depends, how long will you bother me if I don't say yes?"

"Until about six thirty this evening."

"Alice is right Remus." Hallie said quickly while Alice gave him a smirk.

"Six thirty? That's when Slughorn's party starts right?" I asked. Like the rest of us, Remus was one of the Potions Master's favorite students, and was always invited to his Slug Club events.

"That's exactly what we're arguing about." Alice said scowling at him as he calmly unpacked his books. "He REFUSES to ask Patricia French to the party tonight even though we all know he wants to."

I glanced at Hallie, wondering how she'd react to her friend encouraging Remus to ask another girl, but she didn't seem to care at all. Then again, Hallie's emotions were always so hard to read.

"Why don't you?" she asked curiously.

"It's complicated." He muttered.

"That's no excuse." Alice said annoyed.

They continued to bicker as the bell rang and I looked down at Hallie who was levitating her quill with her wand looking bored.

"Speaking of Slughorn's party, are you going to go?" I knew these parties weren't really her thing, but she normally attended, I figured Lily always made her go.

"Nope." She said giving her wand a complicated flick and the quill-changed colors from black to a stunning gold.

"Why not?" I asked admiring her wand work.

"Don't have anyone to go with." She said frowning. "Usually I would just hang out with Lily or Remus, but Lily is going to be with James, Alice is going to make Remus ask Patricia whether he likes it or not, and she refuses to go ever since Frank graduated. The thought of standing alone making small talk with a bunch of couples who feel obligated to talk to the one girl without a date isn't exactly appealing to me believe it or not."

"I'll go with you." I said with a shrug.

"You don't have a date?" she asked skeptically.

"Nope."

"Why not?"

"I hadn't picked one yet." I said and she looked annoyed.

"Only YOU could procrastinate on asking for a date because you have too many options."

"Well? Do you want to go?"

She hesitated. "This isn't you using your one date is it?" she asked and I gave her a patronizing look.

"Don't insult my creativity Hallie." I said rolling my eyes. "Do you really think in my one opportunity to go on a date with you I'd waste it on something as trivial as Slughorns party?"

She still didn't answer.

"Why are you being so stubborn? It's one night what's the worst that could happen besides you having a good time and getting free food?" I asked.

"And it's not a date?" she confirmed.

"No." I said shaking my head. "I'll just be there if you need someone to talk to. You don't even have to kiss me good night. Unless you want to…" I said finishing with a smile.

"You know you're not exactly helping your case here." She pointed out and I laughed.

"My case? Hallie, me going with you would be doing you a favor, not the other way around."

"So you think you're doing girls a favor by allowing them the privilege of going on a date with you?" She asked shooting me an incredulous look while crossing her arms over her chest.

"I was under the impression that this wasn't a date." I said casually and I saw her blush.

"You're right." She recovered. "It's not."

"So it's settled then." I said abruptly. "You and I will go to Slughorn's party together tonight."

"But I never said-"

"I'll meet you in the common room at six twenty." I said smirking.

"What just happened?" she asked sounding confused but the lesson began and we could no longer talk.

Hpov

"Hallie you look fine." Lily said when she caught me looking in the mirror for what must have been the twelfth time in the past ten minutes. "If you don't hurry up we're going to be late. It's six fifteen!"

"Ok." I said still not looking away. I didn't know why I cared what I looked like. This wasn't a date, and even if it was, this was Sirius. It was no big deal, I didn't want to impress him. So why was I annoyed that my hair never seemed to fall the right way when I wanted it to? More importantly, why did I want it to?

Annoyed, I gave up and pulled it back into a ponytail thinking that Sirius would just have to deal with it.

"You know I'm surprised you're even going tonight Hal." Alice said frowning. "I always thought you skipped these parties if you were going to be alone."

"Well," I started and both girls' eyes snapped to me. "I won't exactly be alone."

"WHAT?" Alice practically shrieked while Lily said. "Why didn't you tell us?" so quickly she sounded like a tape on fast forward.

"Because it's not a big deal." I mumbled.

"Of course it's a big deal!" Alice said. "You have a date!"

"It's not a date."

"I haven't seen you hanging around any boys." Lily said frowning. "Well except Sirius, who asked you?"

I didn't answer and Alice's eyes went wide.

"It's Sirius!" she said happily.

"Don't be ridiculous." Lily said rolling her eyes but when she spotted my guilty expression her mouth fell open. "Oh my god is it?"

I nodded.

"I knew it!" Alice said giggling excitedly and collapsing on to her blankets.

"Why are you going with Sirius?" Lily asked utterly dumbfounded.

"Well, I didn't have anyone to go with, and neither did he."

"Sirius didn't have a date?" Lily asked in shock.

"He hadn't asked anyone yet."

"Yeah because he wanted to ask you." Alice laughed.

"Do you like him?" Lily asked curiously.

"What? No!" I said my cheeks burning and they exchanged significant looks. "This is stupid." I continued. "Let's go we're already late."

"Yeah whose fault is that?" Lily muttered.

"Give her a break Lily," Alice said in a babying voice. "She wanted to look pretty for Sirius."

"Oh shut up." I said darkly and heading towards the common room.

Laughing, Lily followed me down the stairs and we saw that the boys were waiting by the portrait hole.

"Wow you look great." James said looking at Lily with an expression similar to one that might accompany having just been hit by a sledgehammer.

Sirius didn't say anything, but I figured since this technically this wasn't a date he wasn't obligated to compliment me.

"Where's Remus?" I asked as James and Lily linked arms and made their way through the portrait hole.

"I know this may come as a shock, but Alice convinced him to ask Patricia to the party. He's meeting her in the Great Hall as we speak."

"Ah I see." I said frowning. "Now is this convinced or 'convinced.'" I asked putting finger quotes around the word when I used it the second time. I wouldn't have put it passed Alice to threaten him.

"A bit of both really. Remus really did want to ask her, but he needed a bit of a push."

"Yeah well Alice would be the one to do it." I said and he grinned.

"Shall we go then?" he asked.

"I guess." I said shrugging, he made as if to open the door for me but caught himself before saying.

"Ah, right, not a date. You can open the door for me."

I rolled my eyes, but couldn't help but smile a little as I walked passed him and pushed open the portrait hole.

"Thank you." He said pointedly as I made rather a show of holding it open for him and he stepped out into the corridor. James and Lily had already disappeared not that I thought she minded. I had a feeling as this was their first official date as a couple, they'd want some time alone.

"Since this isn't a date." I started and he gave me a curious look as we walked down the hall. "Can I ask you a personal question, between two friends?"

"Sure."

"Well I know some of your family members in Slytherin are invited to these things, is it going to bother you if they see you with me?"

"No." he said but he looked angry about something and while I was half afraid to, I asked.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing it's just," he paused looking frustrated. "I don't like how they would make you ask a question like that, as if you were something to be embarrassed about."

"Isn't that what they think?"

"It's not what you should." He said stiffly.

I felt a little uneasy at his tone and he seemed to have noticed because he stopped walking and he sighed.

"Look Hallie, don't let people like them get to you. In fact, don't think about them at all them, they're a waste of your time."

"They don't bother me."

"Then why did you ask?"

I didn't answer. The truth was I wasn't sure, but I had realized that I knew very little about Sirius's past life and I was curious to know more. I wanted to know what made him, him, after all he seemed to know so much about me.

"What?" I asked frowning when his expression changed from cynical to curious, though it was just as intense.

He shook his head and reached out for me, gently tugging the hair tie from my hair, allowing it to fall around my shoulders.

"Perfect." He said quietly then turned and continued walking, leaving me standing there in confusion.


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Harry Potter series and any of the characters. All credit goes to my hero, the wonderful J.K. Rowling! :D

Spov

Spending an evening with Hallie was far less difficult than I expected. Then again I wasn't sure why I was surprised. She was actually quite easy to talk to when she was in the mood, and recently she seemed to be in the mood to talk around me all the time.

I looked around the room to see Hallie had been right, it was full of couples. James and Lily were talking with Remus and Patricia by the drinks table, and I could see Slughorn himself talking to several important women from the ministry.

His parties were typically formal events, which meant dress robes or at least something nicer than our school uniforms we were required. Both Hallie and Lily had worn muggle dresses that matched their eyes. Lily's dress was long and green where Hallie's was deep blue dress and tied around the waist. It draped one her shoulder leaving the other exposed and long brown hair fell down her back. Again I was glad I took it out of it's ponytail.

I'd noticed several boys staring at Hallie when we'd walked together and I had to resist the temptation to put my arm around her to signal she was off limits. Instead, I glared at them and they backed off immediately. Everyone knew that I was after Hallie and very few boys were going to challenge me, no matter how beautiful she looked, and tonight, beautiful didn't do her justice.

We were sitting at one of the tables, just people watching and making fun of couples like James and Lily, inventing stories for them having no idea if they were accurate at all.

"Alright what do you think about blondie and string bean over there?" I asked her spotting a very pretty girl with an extremely awkward looking boy on the dance floor. Music had filled the dimly lit room and a few people were dancing to the jazzy melody. "Who invited whom, and why did they decide to go?"

"Hmm…" she said frowning her eyes landing on the pair. "Well I think string bean invited blondie either to impress his friends or because he was dared to. I'm guessing his family is wealthy which is why he is here, and Blondie is an aspiring actress or model. She knows Slughorn has connections and that his parties are littered with famous and powerful people. Maybe she thinks that meeting some of these people tonight will give her a leg up in her doomed to fail career."

"That's pretty morbid Hal." I said grinning and she raised an eyebrow.

"Fine. What do you think?"

"I think it's possible they're in a perfectly committed relationship and that they are in love."

"You believe in love?" she asked suspiciously.

"Yeah I guess for some people." I said shrugging and looking back at her. "You seem surprised."

"I am. I didn't think of you as the type to believe in love."

"Why not?"

"Well c'mon Sirius." She said grinning slightly. "You're not exactly Mr. Right are you? How many hearts here have you broken? Are you seriously trying to make me believe that you were ever in love?"

"Maybe not me personally, but I mean look at James. He's been in love with Lily for almost as long as we've been mates. It's kind of hard not to believe in something when it's been right in front of you for the last couple years of your life."

"Fair point." She said thoughtfully.

"What about you? Do you believe in love?"

"I think my Dad would question if he raised me right if I didn't." she said frowning.

"Then how come I've never seen you with any boyfriends?" I asked her.

"I don't have time for them." She said shrugging. "At least not during the school year."

"Any summer boys?"

"A few." She admitted. "Mostly muggles I knew from childhood but they never lasted long."

"I guess I can see why. It must be pretty hard having to hide the fact you're a witch from people you've known for so long, especially if you're dating. They must wonder where you go all year."

"Actually it never really came up. Usually it ended before it had time too." She said suddenly her brow furrowing. "It's was my brothers' fault mainly, it's hard to date someone who's too afraid to be within five hundred feet of you. My last boyfriend they locked into a closet with an angry raccoon."

"How did that turn out?" I asked half amused, half horrified.

"Not well, it took a while for him to break up with me though." She said shrugging. "He had to get out of the hospital first."

"Blimey…"

"But you're one to talk about hiding things." She said looking at me. "How many secrets do you have to hide?"

"Well if I told you that I wouldn't be hiding them would I?" I asked grinning. "And if you noticed, I'm not really a long term relationship kind of person."

"I have noticed." She said amused.

"If I told every girl I dated everything. The whole school would be broad casting my business."

"That's the truth." She muttered rolling her eyes. "But it sounds like you've got some deep seeded trust issue to me."

"I don't keep girls around long enough to trust them." I said with a shrug.

"And you wonder why I don't go out with you."

"You're different Hal." I said quietly.

"I hardly think so." She said offhandedly and I looked at her.

"You don't have to for it to be true." Just then I saw the boy try to kiss the pretty blonde and she shied away, dragging him to a very important looking man in pinstriped dress robes who was talking to what looked like the Ambassador of France. "You might be right about that blonde girl though."

She laughed.

"Do you want to dance?" I asked when the lights in the room dimmed further, and the music slowed. Suddenly the dance floor was filled with couples.

"Do I look like someone who dances Sirius?" she asked and again I found it hard to refrain myself from touching her while she was wearing that dress.

"Yes actually."

"Well you're wrong."

"I don't believe you." I said standing and producing a rose from thin air.

"And why is that?" she asked skeptically, eyeing the flower.

"All pretty girls like to dance."

I offered her the rose, and for the first time since the start of this year, it achieved the goal of making her smile.

"Alright." She said taking my hand and letting me drag her to the dance floor.

Both very aware that people were looking at us and whispering, I put my arm around her and we began to move.

"So is this all part of your process?" she asked curiously after I spun her.

"Process? What do you mean?"

"You know, flowers, dancing, giving compliments. Is this how you make girls fall in love with you?"

I chuckled. "Hallie, this is just me keeping my promise and being your companion for the night. I know you'll find this hard to believe but I am a gentleman."

"But really," she said and I was surprised how insistent she was on the matter. "Is this how you do it?"

"Why is it working?" I asked grinning.

"No." she said stubbornly. "But I could see how it could."

"And why is that?"

"Well I don't believe any of this for a second." She said shaking her head. "But I guess I can understand why some girls might." She glanced up at me and her eyes met mine. "You're easy to get caught up in."

"Funny." I said quietly. "I was just thinking the same thing about you."

She blushed and I was caught by that mad desire to kiss her again, consequences be damned, but the moment was broken when someone materialized out of the crowd. He was tall with blonde hair and icy gray eyes, and a prominent sneer.

"Well, well, if it isn't my cousin in law." Lucius Malfoy said nastily his eyes flashing as they landed on Hallie.

"What are you doing here?" I asked threateningly, hot anger spreading throughout me and I pulled Hallie closer.

Lucius was, as he said, my cousin in law. He'd married Narcissa Black and had been a royal pain in my ass from the day I'd met him. He had been a few years ahead of us in school, and when he graduated I thought I'd been rid of him. I was glad. He was another one of the pureblood fanatics in my family and a very outspoken one. If I'd had it my way I'd never see him again but here he was, and the way he was glaring at Hallie, it was obvious he exactly what she was. This did not endear him to me anymore than his marriage to my cousin. In fact, my anger increased.

"I've just been appointed as a school governor Black. Professor Slughorn invited me tonight as a bit of celebration, and I would watch your tone if I were you. Now that I've been granted quite a substantial position of power I could make life very difficult for you and your…" his eyes darted to Hallie again and she glared defiantly back at him. "Well, seeing as you've sunk so low, I guess I'll call that thing your friend."

I went for my wand but Hallie caught my arm.

"Don't be an idiot." She said stiffly. "He only wants a chance to get you expelled."

"Oh so you're one of the smart ones." He said frowning. "I heard there were two of you here that might actually pass for real witches."

"She is a real witch." I spat angrily. "Watch your mouth."

"Relax Sirius," Hallie said calmly then turned back to Lucius. "It's funny though, with that luscious blonde hair of yours, I was thinking the same thing about you."

"What?" he spat angrily and I tried not to laugh.

"I think you." Hallie said still in that even tone, her face completely straight. "Could pass for a very attractive witch."

"How dare you!" he spat but Hallie simply raised an eyebrow.

"Oh so I'm a 'you' now?" she asked sarcastically. "What a wondrous honor, and here I was still thinking I was a 'thing.' Good to know I'm making progress."

He glared at her with contempt.

"You must be Benson, the little muggleborn who thinks she's going to be a healer." He said maliciously. "I've heard about you and your smart mouth. Well let me tell you something Hallie." He said quietly, his tone dangerous. "Make jokes all you want, but you will always be nothing."

Rage built inside of me as and increased with each word he spoke.

"You are a nobody, dirt on my shoes just waiting to be trodden on."

I could hear my heart pounding, slamming itself against my chest, as if my anger itself were trying to break out.

"You'll be one of the first to go. Your life is useless, you are worth nothing. You are nothing more than a pathetic little mudblood-"

At this I lost control completely.

"Shut up!" I yelled and fueled by a reckless fury, I lunged for Malfoy. My fist connected with his jaw and he dropped, but I wasn't done.

"Sirius stop!" Hallie yelled but I ignored her. I was so angry, I didn't know what had come over me. All I knew was that he would pay for what he said. I would make sure he was sorry.

The music cut out and people were shouting as I pulled out my wand and let loose a long string of curses, but most of them missed. Lucius had managed to get out of the way just in time, and get to his feet. He too was firing spells at me and suddenly I realized that we were in the middle of an all out duel.

James and Remus stumbled out of the flood of people scrambling for the doors and were instantly by my side, ready to fight, but several Slytherins had joined Lucius and it was starting to look very serious for us when Hallie shouted.

"Everte Statum!"

Her spell was so powerful it threw all of us off our feet and sent us to opposite sides of the room. With another quick flick of her wand, she summoned all of ours and caught them, leaving us all powerless to continue the fight.

"T-t-thank you, Miss Benson." Slughron said shakily as she handed him the wands. He was one of the few people still left in the now destroyed office, along with Lily and Remus's date.

"What happened?" Lily asked running over to James who'd been hit with a blasting curse. He managed to deflect most of the damage though, and seemed alright.

"I don't know really," he said wincing as he sat up. "But Sirius was in trouble."

"Mate what did he do?" Remus asked but before I could answer I was being dragged by a furious Hallie towards the door.

"Come with me." She said so angrily it was almost as if I was the one who'd insulted her. "Don't make me force you."


	14. Chapter 14

Hpov

I dragged Sirius to the nearest empty class room and didn't let go until I forced him into a seat and glared down at him. I was so angry I didn't know what I was going to do. What had he been thinking starting such a dangerous duel and letting himself get so out numbered? I wasn't sure if I wanted to hit him for being so stupid, or hug him knowing that he was ok.

"WHAT was that all about?" I almost shouted at him.

"You heard what he called you." He said furiously.

"So?"

"So?" he asked incredulously. "Hallie it's disgusting. Aren't you angry?"

"It's just a name."

"No it's not!" he said and I was surprised that he was actually shouting at me. Never in all my years at Hogwarts had I ever seen Sirius this angry. "It's not just name Hallie, it's so much worse."

"That still doesn't give you the right to just attack people!"

"So I was supposed to just let him get away with that. Sit there and do nothing?"

"Yes!" I said furiously.

"Why are you yelling at me?" he asked incredulously. "He's the one you should be angry with."

"Well I'm angry at you!"

"Why?" he started indignantly. "I was trying to protect-"

"I don't need protecting Sirius!" I said feeling as if I wanted to shake him, to rattle his stupid little brain around until he understood it wasn't me I was worried about. "I don't give a damn about Lucius Malfoy, or anything he says, but I do care if you go and throw yourself into the every dangerous situation you see just because you can't control your temper. I don't want to be patching you up every five seconds just because you don't think!"

He glared at me, but it seemed as if his anger had reached a point beyond words. He simply looked at me, his fists shaking slightly as words continued to fail him.

There were so many things I wanted to say, but none of it seemed to want to come out right. Words and emotions continued to swirl in my mind, confusing me until I couldn't take it any longer and put my head in my hands. How did he do this to me? What was it about him that made everything so complicated? Why couldn't I just ignore this?

I tried several times to sort out my feelings but had no success. Nothing made sense with him, why did he have to be this way.

Eventually, I looked up and sighed.

"There are always going to be idiots like Malfoy out there Sirius." I said taking a deep breath and forcing myself to calm down. "You just need to let it go."

"No." he said coldly.

"Excuse me?" I asked angrily. Sirius had never looked at me like this before, in blatant disregard for what I had to say.

"I said no." he repeated standing up, towering over me in his anger and I stepped back, alarmed at his expression. "Hallie, I will never let it go. You don't understand, someone like you could NEVER understand what they're like, how they think about you. If you could, you'd be just as angry as me."

I took another step back and felt my back hit the wall and Sirius stepped closer. I felt breathless, and even a little scared. I'd never seen Sirius like this before, ever. All traces of the arrogant playboy were gone leaving the boy in front of me. Who was bitter at his family and hated their entire world.

"You don't know what he would do to you if he had his way." He said quietly. His voice was shaking and it sounded agonized. I remembered the stories in the papers about the muggle borns disappearing and found months later, dead.

"I think I do." I said softly realizing he was very close.

My breath caught in my chest as he put his hands on my shoulders and looked down at me, his eyes so intense I couldn't hold his gaze.

"Then you should know that I'm never going to let that happen."

"You sound like an idiot." I said looking down. I didn't like seeing him like this. I wanted it to stop.

He dropped his hands from me and I looked up, but he was already walking away running his fingers through his hair in a frustrated motion.

"You don't understand." He said quietly.

"I'll be fine," I said as he leaned on a desk still refusing to look at me. "But you can't do anything about people like him, and getting into duels with a governor of the school is just asking to be expelled. Don't be stupid."

"People do stupid things for the ones they care about."

He then walked out into the corridor without looking back.

When Sunday rolled around, I didn't bother going into Hogsmead. The weather was cold and rainy, not to mention I would have been alone. Everyone seemed to have a date, Lily would be with James, Alice was with Frank, Remus had asked Patricia for a second date, and Sirius always had some random girl attached to him so I didn't want to be the awkward third wheel. Instead I decided to spend my time in the empty common room, curled up under a blanket on the couch next to the fire and catch up on some of the latest articles published in 'The Healing Hand,' my favorite medical magazine.

"Do you ever stop working?" Sirius asked dropping on to the sofa next to me.

"This isn't work." I said looking up from the pages and at him. He was leaning casually against the cushions looking bored, but as always, very handsomely so.

"It looks like work." He said then glanced at the title of the article I was reading the rolled his eyes. "The effect of unicorn tail hair treated to a full lunar cycle on patients being cured for spattergriot. That sounds really interesting Hallie."

"It's very interesting." I said stubbornly and he raised an eyebrow. "It's an excerpt from James Roana's latest medical guide."

"James Roana?" he said frowning as if he were thinking hard. "That name sounds familiar."

"I'm not surprised, he's a very famous Healer. He's the pioneer wizard for experimental research in medical potions."

"Yeah, that's not where I know that name from." He said flatly, obviously still trying to remember. "If it's so interesting to you, why don't you just buy the book instead of just reading an article?"

"It's way too expensive." I said shaking my head. "I thought you'd be in Hogsmead. Couldn't find anyone to go with you?" I asked smirking and he rolled his eyes.

"Please." He muttered. "This is all part of my punishment from what happened Friday night. I can't visit Hogsmead until the end of the term. If I wanted a date all I'd have to do was snap my fingers and girls would come running."

"That would be an interesting thing to see." I said and he chuckled. "So what, is attracting girls like magnets your super power or something?"

"What's a super power?" he asked sounding puzzled.

"You know, special abilities and powers that heroes have. Like in the comic books how Superman can fly."

Evidently this didn't help because he looked just as confused.

"You've never heard of Superman?" I asked in shock.

"No, is that some sort of muggle thing?"

"Yeah." I said frowning. Being friends with Lily, I was used to being able to talk about a mix of things from both muggle world and wizarding one, fairly easily with little or no confusion. I often forgot just how different they were, but it was moments like these, talking to someone who was raised outside the muggle world, I realized how rarely they overlapped. I'd had these moments with Alice, but it was especially weird with Sirius. He seemed to have made it a point to teach himself about muggle culture as much as he could to annoy his parents, so even if he couldn't contribute much to our conversation when it turned to muggle topics, at least I knew for the most part he had an idea of what I was talking about. Very rarely did he look at me like he was looking now. He seemed utterly lost.

"You'll have to show me sometime." He said obviously amused at my expression.

"I guess so."

A moment of silence passed between us.

"So what are you doing over break?" I asked curiously. I had just realized I'd never actually seen Sirius outside of school, and I wondered what he got up to outside of class. The thought of seeing him anywhere besides Hogwarts was just bizarre. "You usually go to the Potters don't you?"

An image of Sirius and James sitting in footsy pajamas like little kids in front of a Christmas tree popped into my brain and I had to resist the temptation to laugh.

"Not this year." He said looking a little disappointed.

"Don't you live with them?" I asked confused.

"I did, but I moved out when I was seventeen. I've got my own place in London now. If I don't just stay at Hogwarts that's where I'll end up."

"So you'll be by yourself?" I asked trying not to sound sorry for him. I knew he wouldn't like it, but still, who wanted to be alone on Christmas?

"It's not big deal Hallie." He said shrugging. "The Potters did invite me over for the holiday, but I figured, since they were vacationing James might like the time alone with Lily."

"Oh yeah I forgot about that."

"What about you, you're going to the concert right?"

"Yeah, but now that Lily's out I've got an extra ticket." I said disappointedly, but then was struck with a sudden idea. "Do you want to go with me?"

"What?" he asked.

"Do you want to go to the concert with me?" I asked again.

He gave me a suspicious look, as if he wasn't sure if I were joking or not. "Are you serious?"

"Why wouldn't I be? I've got an extra ticket, you like AC/DC and I don't want to have to choose between any of my brothers." I hesitated and then recklessly added. "And I can ask my Dad if you can spend the break with us."

He gave me such a strange look that at first I thought I might have insulted him.

"I mean, only if you wanted too." I added quickly. "I can understand if you wouldn't want to, I just thought-"

"Stop talking Hallie." He said laughing. "I'd love to."

"Alright it's settled then." I said smiling. "You'll come to my house. But I have to warn you about my family."

"What about them?"

"Well," I said scratching the back of my neck awkwardly. "I guess the simplest way to put it, is that they're insane."


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Harry Potter series and any of the characters. All credit goes to my hero, the wonderful J.K. Rowling! :D

Spov

The rest of the term passed quickly and before I knew it, Hallie and I had said goodbye to Remus, Alice, Peter, Lily, and James on the train, and were now walking through the platform at Kings Cross station looking for her family.

On the ride back to London, she'd given me a brief overview of who in her family I was most likely to meet, which really meant who to look out for. She hadn't been joking when she said they were extremely over protective of her. She'd told me some of the things they'd done, and those muggle ex boyfriends she'd mentioned in the past, were now too afraid to talk to her.

First was her father, John Benson. He was a retired athlete who played keeper for her family's favorite sports team and now coached football at the University of London.

Next was Adam. He too played professional football for Chelsea, as something called a full back, whatever that meant, and was married to a woman named Alyssa who he'd apparently met as his physical therapist after sustaining a sports related injury. They'd started dating soon after he recovered and were married after about two years. They had a little girl who, like Hallie, was named Katie after their mother and was two years old. They'd nicknamed her Junior so nobody would get confused with having two Katies.

"Adam is ok." She'd said thoughtfully. "A few years ago he might have beaten you up just for looking at me. But he's relaxed a bit since he's met Alyssa. So I don't think you'll need to worry about him. Not unless you do or say something really stupid."

Then there were Sampson and Kohl who were Irish twins. They were both in their final year at the University of London, playing on the team their father coached. Neither of them had girlfriends.

"They're a lot like you and James." She'd said amused. "They constantly get into troubled together, and girls are always after them. But like you they can't seem to choose so they just date them all. Be careful around them though. They like to pull pranks, and I'm guessing over the break you'll be their main target. You might want to keep an eye on your things."

Last was Mason. He was the second youngest from the way she spoke about him, I could tell he was the brother to which she was closest. He was the only brother to quit playing football at the age of 16 in order to focus on music, which is what he was studying in his second year at a school she called NYU in the United States. Apparently he was crazy in love with his girlfriend whom he'd met at school, and was living with her in an apartment in New York.

"He won't bother you." She assured me. "Just get him talking about the influence of the Beatles on modern day society and nod your head every so often as he speaks. He likes anyone who'll put up with his stories."

I continued to mentally list their names as we passed through the magical barrier and we heard someone shout.

"Katie!"

Hallie turned and smiled. I looked over to see five figures, waving towards her.

"C'mon." She said happily dragging me towards her family.

"Good to have you back." Said the tallest of them, who I could only assume was her father, as he pulled her into a hug. He was a broad shouldered man, with short, military cut blond hair and dark brown eyes that were looking at me not unkindly but with a certain authority all the same. Hallie had told me that he wasn't nearly as protective of her as her brothers, and I could see that now as they were all glowering at me, but he was still her father.

"You must be Sirius." He said as he let her go and extended a hand which I shook. "It's good to meet you, Kate's told us a lot about you."

"Has she?" I said surprised and looking down at Hallie who was looking distinctly embarrassed. It was weird to hear Hallie referred to as Kate, but I guess that was her real name.

"Not _that_ much." She muttered. "Anyways, Sirius these are my brothers." She said gesturing towards the unfriendly looking lot. "That's Adam." She said gesturing towards the second tallest of the group. He looked much like their father with the same authoritative dark eyes, and similarly cut hair, but it was brown like Hallie's.

"That's Sampson and Kohl." She said gesturing towards the two next to Adam. Both boys were blonde with thinner faces than Mr. Benson and Adam. The one on the left, Sampson, had brown eyes while the one on the right, Kohl, had eyes the exact same color blue as Hallie.

"And that's Mason." Hallie finished.

She pointed to the shortest of the boys. Out of all Hallie's brothers, Mason looked the most like her. He too had inherited the brown hair and blue eyes, but unlike his brothers, he wasn't built like an athlete. He was still tall but on the slighter side. He didn't have a strong frame like the rest of the boys, or the air of someone who spent much time working out.

"Nice to meet you all." I said shaking each of their hands in turn.

"Yeah." Sampson said grinning evilly and his sentence was finished by Kohl. "We'll see how long you'll be saying that."

"Get out of it." Hallie muttered rolling her eyes.

"Katie's right boys. Sirius is our guest." Their father said sternly. "And will be treated as such."

"Sure thing Dad." Sampson said innocently.

"Of course." Kohl agreed, but with a smile that I recognized. It was the same sort of smile James wore when we planned a surprise prank on the Slytherins or when he'd just gotten the better of Snape.

"Keep your door locked when you sleep." Hallie warned me quietly and we all made our way towards the parking lot.

It took about an hour and a half to get to Hallie's house, she didn't live in the city, but closer to the countryside. She was right about her family being a little crazy. They'd given up on interrogating me a while ago. I knew very little about the muggle world, and they knew less about the wizarding one so they had no idea what to ask me. Even if they did come up with a question, I didn't really know how to answer. So instead they'd taken to blasting the radio, and when they weren't fighting over who got to choose the station, they were shouting along to the lyrics of the muggle music.

They played ridiculous car games, which Hallie was apparently very good at, with complicated rules that involved a series of hand gestures and code words when they saw certain cars or buildings. The loser, Sampson this time, was forced to choose between a smack in the back of the head from everyone who was playing when the ride was over, or sitting alone in the car, with his seatbelt still on for an hour after everyone had already gotten out.

"Blimey Mase." He said rubbing the back of his head while Mason laughed and we exited the vehicle. "Are you trying to give me a concussion?"

Her house was the only one you could see when we pulled into the drive. It was big and white with lots of windows and I understood why she'd seemed so at home in the forest a few weeks ago. There was a forest literally in her back yard.

Snow had started to fall, making the place look like a Christmas card. It was very different from where I grew up. Between her obviously close knit family and all the open space, I had to admit I was a little jealous of her childhood. They seemed like a group of people who knew how to have fun.

"Ok Kate." Mr. Benson said as we dragged our trunk through the front door and into the main hall. "You can give Sirius the tour, show him where he's sleeping. You know the rules."

"I know Dad." She said rolling her eyes. "Doors open at all times and no going into each others bedrooms after nine."

"That's right." He said then turned to Adam who was watching me. "When is Alyssa and Junior going to be here?"

"They'll be here for dinner." He said looking away from me and at his father.

"Are you staying the night?" Hallie asked hopefully.

"No I think we're going to head back home. We've got to wake up early to visit the in laws tomorrow, we will on Christmas though."

"Alright." She said looking happy then turned to me. "C'mon I'll show you to your room."

"Just don't get any ideas." Kohl said frowning and narrowing his eyes at me.

"Yeah we'll be watching you." Sampson said darkly.

Mason didn't say anything, he was looking at me with a strange expression, rather like the expression Hallie got when she was assessing someone in the hospital wing. Calculated, but intrigued. He caught her eye and I had a feeling that she shot him a warning look because suddenly he shrugged and walked out of the room.

"You'll be upstairs." She said grabbing her trunk again and walking down the hall. She showed me to the stairs as her brothers made their ways to various locations around the house.

"Katie!" one of them shouted. "We're going turkey bowling tonight, make sure you put on running shoes."

"What?" I asked in confusion.

"It's kind of a tradition." She said grinning. "I'll explain later."

"Alright then." I said curiously following her up the steps but then stopped when I spotted a picture of her and a boy who looked to be in his twenties, with his arm around her.

"Who's this?" I asked frowning and she looked over her shoulder at the picture.

"That's my Mum." She said quietly. "That was taken just after she'd gotten engaged to my Dad."

I blinked and looked again. Now that she had said it, the girl in the picture looked older than Hallie, and the ring that was always on Hallie's necklace, she wore on her left ring finger. But aside from this, and a few very slight differences, you could hardly tell the two apart.

"Oh." Was all I could think to say.

"Your room is up here." She said starting back up the steps. "Farthest down the hall on the left."

Her voice grew quieter as she got farther up the stairs but I didn't follow her. I continued to look at the picture. Her father looked much different, which was to be expected considering this must have been taken over twenty five years ago, but there was something more than age difference in his eyes. He had the same goofy expression and happiness in his eyes that James exhibited whenever Lily was around. I'd come to associate it with guys who'd let them self fall hopelessly in love, and suddenly it made sense why Mr. Benson had never remarried. Katie looked happy too and more relaxed than I'd ever seen Hallie, as if all her cares in the world had vanished now that she was with her fiancé. That being said, there was no question that Hallie really did look exactly like her mother.

"Are you coming?" Hallie asked me, her head poking out from over the landing and staring down at me.

"Yeah." I said grabbing my trunk again and dragging it up the stairs.

"What were you doing?" she asked curiously leading me down the hallway.

"Nothing," I said as we entered a decent sized guest room with pale blue walls, a desk in the corner, and a bed next to the window which had a spectacular view of the snow covered woods behind the house. "I was just thinking."

"About what?" she asked sitting on the bed and looking at me.

"What's turkey bowling?" I asked my brain scrambling for the first thing it could think of and she smiled.

"Oh it's lots of fun." She said. "I think you'll like it."

Hpov

I wasn't too worried about Sirius getting along with my brothers. As hostile as they had started out, he hadn't seemed afraid of them, which was something they'd never experienced before. I was pretty sure they didn't know how to deal with it.

As always he was funny, charismatic and seemed to have the ability to make anyone like him. In fact the moment Alyssa, who'd I taken to seeing as a newly adopted sister after Adam's wedding, had seen him, she'd given me a significant look and said "He's cute Kate," when she knew no one else could hear. Her opinion of him only improved as the evening went on, especially when she saw how good he was with Katie Junior. Junior absolutely adored Sirius, who was apparently very good with kids. Usually a very shy child, by the end of the night she was constantly waddling over to him and playing her favorite games like peekaboo and giggling delightedly as he told her about Hogwarts and magic. Any traces of doubt that he and my family wouldn't get along had vanished over dinner and that certainty was reaffirmed when we'd gone to the super market.

"So what are we doing exactly?" Sirius asked as I glanced over my shoulder to make sure no store workers were looking. It was eleven at night and so far the only employee we'd seen was a sleepy looking clerk at the checkout.

"We're good." I said grinning at Mason who was holding an enormous frozen turkey in it's wrapping as Sampson and Kohl set up the liters of soda at the top of the aisle. Adam wasn't with us, he'd gone home with his family after saying that now that he was a father, Turkey Bowling was a little too "immature" of an activity for him to be doing, but that was his loss.

"Sirius have you ever been bowling before?" Mason asked.

"No."

"The object of the game is to roll the bowling ball down the lane and knock over all the pins." I said grinning. "But in this case, the turkey is the ball, and the soda are the pins."

"And the store just let's you do this?" he asked looking surprised.

"Not exactly." I said grinning. "That's why we're here so late. There's less people."

The Sampson gave Mason the thumbs up and he took his stance, then swung his arm back and let the turkey fly down the aisle. It crashed into the bottles of soda knocking four of them down.

"Pathetic." I muttered and Mason shot me a look.

"Don't give me that Kate, you're even worse at this than I am."

"Can I try?" Sirius asked grinning.

"Sure." We said in unison while Kohl brought back the turkey and Sampson reset the pins.

"Hold on a second." I said glancing back at the clerk who hadn't heard anything through his headphones connected to the tape player on his belt. "Alright go ahead."

Sirius grinned and took the turkey, aimed, then rolled it down the aisle. We all watched in amazement as all ten bottles were knocked over.

"That's good right?" he asked.

"That's awesome!" Kohl said looking at Sirius a little taken back. "Are you sure you've never done this before?"

Mason went to retrieve the turkey and help Sampson set up the pins.

We continued to take turns over the next fifteen minutes, and to all of our surprise, Sirius was kicking our ass.

"Are you good at everything?" I asked him after his fourth strike.

"Sort of." He said amused while Sampson took his turn.

The turkey collided into the bottles yet again, but this time, one of them took a funny turn and spiraled towards one of the shelves. It's fizzy contents pressurized from all the shaking, the second it smacked into the solid surface, the cap shot off the bottle.

"Uh oh." Mason said as the bottle, propelled by spraying soda, rocketed down the aisle and slammed into a display of pickle jars knocking them over and causing them to smash with an ear splitting racket.

"What the hell?" the clerk asked in alarm while taking off his headphones. "What are you kids doing?"

His eyes went wide as he took in the mess of shattered glass and pickle juice that had covered the floor, then our five guilty faces.

"Every Benson for themselves!" Kohl shouted as the clerk started running towards us.

"What?" Sirius asked.

"Run!" I shouted as we all sprinted towards the exit and made our way towards the car.

"Sam get this thing moving." I shouted diving next to Mason in the back seat as Sirius slammed the door shut after us. The store clerk had gone back to his station had gone for the phone. He was obviously starting to calling the police.

"Kohl where are the keys?"

There was a jingle as Kohl took the keys from his pocket, tossed them to Sampson who caught the keys and jammed them into the ignition and the car roared into life. He threw it into reverse and we were back on the road speeding away from the store within a matter of seconds.

"That was awesome." Sirius said laughing and looking down at me. "Did you seriously used to do stuff like this all the time?"

"Who Katie?" Sampson asked with a laugh as he made a hairpin turn to get us off the main road and headed back towards the house. "Of course!"

"Mate, you should have seen her when she was kid, she was absolutely wild." Kohl said turning back to look at Sirius, Mason, and me.

"Really?" he asked looking interested.

"Yeah, it used to drive our Mum crazy running after her. Once when she was five, she tried to ride her tricycle back wards down the stairs because, and I quote 'the drive way wasn't enough of a challenge'." Kohl said smirking and I rolled my eyes.

"My favorite is when she tied the Barbies grandma tried to make her play with to those fire works and blew them up." Sampson interjected.

"You would have too if she tried to force you to play with dolls." I said scowling.

"What little girl doesn't like dolls?" Mason said incredulously.

"Me!"

Sirius was laughing now and I was horrified to see that my brothers weren't finished.

"Do you remember she tried to jump off the roof?" Kohl asked.

"That was Adam's fault." I said glaring out the window not looking anything in particular seeing as how it was dark outside. "He said I wasn't brave enough to do it."

"Yeah and you broke your arm." Mason said shaking his head.

"But I did it." I pointed out.

"I know what we should do next!" Sampson said excitedly.

"What?" I asked in unison with the others.

"Now that we actually have snow, we should go super sledding."

"Yes!" Kohl shouted excitedly.

"What is super sledding?" Sirius asked.

"Oh you're going to like it." Sampson continued. "What we do is we tie a sled to the back of our Dad's Jeep right, we take it out to this field not far from our house, get a bunch of flood lights, and one person drives while trying to shake off the rest of the people who are trying to stay on to the sled."

"Isn't that dangerous?" he asked grinning and I smirked.

"Don't be so uptight Sirius." I said and he looked down at me. "You should know by now that the dangerous things are the most fun."

He grinned.

"Wise words little sis." Mason said ruffling my hair.

"Mase stop it." I said annoyed batting his hands away and he chuckled. "What?" I asked noticing Sirius was still grinning.

"I dunno. I guess, I have a hard time believing that you would do something as blatantly reckless as super sledding sounds."

"Sirius mate, of course she'd do it." Kohl said incredulously. "She invented it."


	16. Chapter 16

Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Harry Potter series and any of the characters. All credit goes to my hero, the wonderful J.K. Rowling! :D

Spov

Super sledding was a lot light riding a broom, if that broom had been jinxed and you'd lost all control.

"WE LOST MASON!" Sampson shouted and I redoubled my grip on the sled as Mason's figure tumbled off into the snow and the jeep took a sharp left turn causing the sled to slingshot forward for a couple seconds, then yank after the car. Hallie shouted and I felt her slip next to me.

"Hold on!" I shouted putting an arm around her, catching her before she slid off, but then Kohl fell as well.

We were in the clearing Sampson had been talking about earlier, and even though it was well past midnight, the floodlights he'd mentioned were so powerful, they lit the entire clearing which was now covered in snow.

Mr. Benson, who was surprisingly cool for an almost fifty year old, was driving the jeep and doing his absolute best to throw us off. The engine of the jeep roared thunderously as he sped up, and I felt my stomach drop as the sled caught air over a small mound of snow. We were granted a few moments of weightlessness before we hit the ground with unforgiving force and I lost my grip. Both Hallie and I were thrown off the sled and sent sprawling as the jeep sped away from us, it's tail lights glowing smugly at us.

"YEEEAAAAAHHHHH!" Sampson shouted in victory. He was the last one on the sled, which meant he'd won, but his celebration was cut short when Mr. Benson took another sharp turn and he was thrown face first into the snow.

"That was brilliant." I said laughing and pushing myself up out of the freezing snow.

"Glad you enjoyed it." Hallie said rubbing the back of her head.

"Are you alright?" I asked in concern and she nodded also sitting up.

"Yeah, I just forgot how hard you land sometimes." Her breath clouded in front of her as she spoke and her cheeks were pink from the cold. Despite the fact she was wearing bulky snow clothes, and her hair was wet and tangled under her hat I couldn't help but think she still somehow managed looked cute.

"I still can't believe you came up with this. This is genius." I said smiling.

"Why can't you believe I came up with this?" she asked curiously.

"Well Hal, you're not exactly like this at school."

"Like what?"

"Well…" I hesitated before saying the only word I could think to describe it. "Fun."

"I'm plenty of fun Sirius." She said shrugging. "Maybe you just weren't paying attention."

"Or maybe you just didn't want to show me."

She grinned and when I continued to stare at her eyebrows rose.

"What?" she asked curiously.

"Nothing, it's just, usually you're always so busy at the castle you never have time for anything like this." I said thoughtfully. "I like seeing this side of you."

She smiled and I felt my heart falter slightly. With a shock I realized it was the same exact smile her mother had had in the picture on the staircase, and I was unable to keep myself from smiling back with a huge, almost idiotic grin.

"Katie! Sirius! Are you two alright?"

We both jumped and saw that the Jeep had stopped and her brothers were all clambering back onto the sled. It was Mr. Benson who'd shouted, his head leaning out the open car window.

"We're fine!" she said looking away from me and shouting back.

"Alright we're going have one more go around before we head back! Winner of this round gets to pick the movie for next family movie night!"

I had no idea what a movie was, but apparently whatever it was caused Hallie great distress.

"I might have to cheat on this one." She muttered darkly while getting to her feet. "I'll definitely have to push Sam and Kohl off."

"Why?"

"Because if they get to choose they're going to make us watch all of my baby videos, just to humiliate me in front of you."

Spov

The next morning I woke up early, though I wasn't sure why. I sat up and rubbed my eyes, confused for a moment as to where I was, but slowly recollections from last night came back to me and I smiled. A year ago if someone had told me that Hallie Benson had invited me to stay at her house over the break, I would have thought they were confunded, but here I was in her guest room, having survived the first night with her brothers.

I grabbed my wand off the nightstand, got dressed, then made my way towards the hall.

The second I opened my door I had to duck.

"What the-?" I said looking back at the wall behind me to see it had been splattered with paint.

I cautiously stuck my head out into the hall again and saw a thin wire had been attached to my door handle. It connected to a series of pulleys that pulled the trigger of what I realized to be a muggle paintball gun the second I opened the door.

"Good reflexes." Someone said amused and I looked up to see Mason had just entered the hall.

I shrugged. "That wasn't nearly as bad as dodging a bludger."

"Sorry?" he asked confused.

"You know, a bludger in quidditch. Err, never mind." I said shaking my head when he continued to look confused. "But she warned me something like this might happen."

"Yeah." He agreed. "Sampson and Kohl might like you but old habits die hard. I guess that had to get one prank out of their system. You're lucky though, the last boy they did that to got it straight in the face, he couldn't see for two days. Although with you it looks like they were aiming for more of the chest area. Even if it hit you wouldn't have had anything worse than a bruise."

"Good to know." I said looking back at the wall, which was covered in green and blue paint.

I turned to continue talking to Mason, but saw he'd already walked down the hall and I frowned.

While I'd gotten along well with the rest of the family, even Sampson and Kohl despite the fact they'd just tried to shoot me, Mason had been a bit distant. I didn't think it was because he didn't like me, but he was very much like Hallie in the sense that it was hard to know with absolute certainty what he was thinking and I thought he preferred it that way. In fact, with how different he was from the rest of his brothers, I had a feeling she was the only one he could relate to, she was certainly the one he talked to the most.

I followed him down stairs.

Staying in a muggle house was without a doubt the strangest thing I'd ever done. At first I couldn't understand how muggles lived without magic, but I started to realize, they had their own sort of version of it, only it didn't work through spells. It was something Hallie called 'electricity,' and from what I could tell, it all operated off a series of buttons.

These buttons were everywhere, on the door, on the stove, to turn on the light all you had to do was flip something called a switch. It was fascinating to me, but a little overwhelming.

I walked into the kitchen to see that Mr. Benson was already awake cooking breakfast.

"Good to see you're paint free." He said grinning. While Mason opened what Hallie had told me was a refrigerator and took out the milk.

"Over the years I've developed a good sense of when to duck." I said and he laughed.

"You're going to need that around here. You know most lads I'd be worried about, having to spend two weeks with those two, but not you." He said in approval. "I have the feeling you can handle them. Kate says you're a bit of a mischief maker yourself."

"On occasion." I said grinning.

"Well you have my full permission to get them at back any time."

Suddenly, the kitchen door burst open again.

"Where is he?" Sampson said excitedly as he was quickly followed by Kohl "We heard the guns go off!"

"We missed!" Kohl said in exasperation.

Both boys were looking at me in shock and I grinned at them.

"Maybe next time lads."

"There won't be a next time until you clean up the mess you've made in the guest room." Their father said taking the pan of bacon off the stove and putting it on the counter as Hallie's brothers began to help themselves. "You should probably go do that now by the way."

"Why?" they asked in unsion.

"'Cuz we're not going to stand in Katie's way when she sees it." Mason said and their eyes went wide.

All of the sudden, we heard a door slam and a voice yell. "SAMPSON AND KOHL BENSON!"

"Too late." Mr. Benson said amused as Hallie thundered down the stairs and threw open the kitchen door. She was still in her pajamas, shorts and one of her father's old football jerseys but despite the over sized shirt and fact that she was at least a foot shorter than her brothers, she looked positively alarming.

"'Morning princess." Mason said folding his arms over his chest and grinning as she raged at her brothers.

"Did you seriously try and shoot him with your paint ball guns!" she asked furiously and both Sampson and Kohl backed away.

"Get back!" Kohl said grabbing a stool from under the counter and holding it out towards her like a lion tamer.

"Appease the tiny terror!" Sampson said throwing bacon at her. "Eat, eat little monster! Take our sacrifices and be gone!"

"Permission to turn the dimwitted duo into dung beetles?" she asked looking at her father.

"Hey you can't use magic," Sampson yelled. "That's not fair!"

"Denied." Mr. Benson agreed and Hallie looked irritated.

"Then can I throw paint all over THEIR room?" she asked.

"That seems fair."

"WHAT?" the twins shouted in unison.

"You tried to shoot him at point blank range with a rifle." Mr. Benson said incredulously. "I think Katie wins this one. Unless you can stop her."

Hallie cackled evilly and made a break for the stairs with her brothers close behind her. They tackled her to the floor and as the three continued to wrestle in the hall, I helped myself to some bacon and looked around the kitchen and the dining room.

The house was very different from the Potters, but not just because it was a muggle residence. James had been an only child, so most everything in his house was neat and ordered, as if an interior designer had personally worked in every room. It was the kind of place with stylish pillows and antique furniture that you had to be careful with or else it would get ruined. There was no rough housing in the Potter home. I had a feeling that was why James acted out so much at school, he'd had no where to be wild, or anyone to be wild with growing up so at school he got his fill.

The Benson household couldn't have been more different. With so many people living here, the rules were sort of be made up as they went along. Mr. Benson was a very relaxed parent, letting the kids settle their own disputes and only intervening if things had been take too far. This meant that the house was generally in a perpetual state of chaotic activity. There was always someone shouting, playing music or getting up to some sort of trouble. Instead of expensive paintings, pictures lined the walls of the kids growing up, along with art projects and awards. I grinned when I saw a picture of Hallie when she couldn't have been more than ten years old, wearing a badge that said Hallway Patrol.

"Somebody grab her!" Kohl shouted desperately as Hallie managed to break free and sprinted up the stairs.

I looked away from the picture to find that Mason had been staring at me, a calculated expression on his features.

"She's going to destroy that room." Mr. Benson said with a sigh and shook his head. "So Sirius." He said looking at me. "Where are you from?"

"I grew up in London." Figuring that was honest enough.

"You don't live there anymore?" he asked looking confused and I felt a sudden surge of gratitude towards Hallie when I realized that she hadn't told her family about my relationship with mine.

"I do, I've just got my own place now."

"Eager to move out?" he asked frowning.

"My family and I don't really get along." I said neutrally.

"Really?" He said looking surprised and I nodded.

"What happened?" Mason asked ignoring the look his father shot him.

"Mason." He said sharply, but strangely I didn't mind. Less than twenty four hours in this home made me feel more accepted than fifteen years in my own.

"It's fine." I said shrugging and turning to look at Hallie's brother. "I'm sure by now Hal-Katie," I corrected feeling safe knowing there was no way she could hear me. "Has told you about the wizarding families who don't like muggle born witches and wizards."

They nodded.

"My parents are those people."

"Well that's a shame." Mr. Benson said eventually, and it looked like he meant it. "You seem like a nice kid. I'm sorry things had to turn out that way."

I shrugged.

"It's alright." I said. "Anyways I stayed with a mate of mine for a while and when I was of age, I got my own place."

"God I don't even want to think of Katie living alone at your age." He said shaking his head again. "Well you're welcome here anytime." He said and I smiled.

"Thanks."

"DAD SHE'S USING MAGIC TO TURN THE WALLS PINK!" either Sampson or Kohl shouted down the stairs.

"It's your own fault!" he shouted back then chuckled as he made his way to the sink. "You know I'm glad you've come to stay over break. I don't think Katie has had the nerve to put them in their place in about ten years."


	17. Chapter 17

Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Harry Potter series and any of the characters. All credit goes to my hero, the wonderful J.K. Rowling! :D

Hpov

Watching Sirius struggle in the muggle world was some of the funniest stuff I'd seen in years. I'll never forget this face the first time the blender went off. He was fascinated by muggle inventions and technology, and bizarrely enough, out of anything he could choose, the toaster seemed to be his favorite. I was amazed to find he'd never tasted soda before, never heard of the word flashlight, and the idea of a treadmill was just something he couldn't grasp. For the first time he was outside his element and I almost couldn't contain myself when I'd caught him one day repeatedly opening and closing the refrigerator.

"What are you doing?" I'd asked incredulously shocked by his complete and total expression of utter concentration.

"The light..." He'd muttered closing it again and opening it quickly. "It doesn't have a switch. Is it always on or does it know when it's open?"

Another time I'd caught him staring at a news paper waiting for the pictures to move, when he tried to play chess with Mason, he'd tried to tell the players where to move, but my favorite moment had to have been when my brothers had convinced him that our vacuum could fly.

"I don't think I'll ever get used to this." He said grinning ecstatically as the toaster popped and he took out the slightly charred pieces of bread. "This is just wonderful."

"You cannot possibly know how strange this is to me." I said trying so hard not to laugh as he happily chewed his toast, I felt as if I'd cracked a rib. His expression was one of pure delight.

"When I go home, I'm buying six of these."

"You only need one." I said a giggle escaping.

"It doesn't matter, I want six." He said resolutely and I couldn't take it, I burst out laughing.

"Sirius, it's not that amazing."

"To you maybe." He said shrugging. "But this is all new to me. Everything is so different here." He frowned. "It's like everywhere I look there's something new that I just don't understand. Was this what it was like for you coming to Hogwarts?"

"Yeah." I said grinning and we sat facing each other on opposite sides of the kitchen counter. "You should have seen Lily and me the first time a portrait spoke to us. We were so stunned we couldn't respond."

"How did you learn so quickly?" he asked.

"Well we had some help." I said shrugging. "Alice explained a lot but I mean, eventually you just get used to it. Especially when you're surrounded by it all the time. You get to a point where you're not surprised anymore."

"I don't think that's going to happen." He said then immediately jumped when the refrigerator started making a horrible scraping and clattering noise.

"Relax, it's just making ice." I said laughing.

"It can do that?" He asked amazed and I nodded. "I'll never understand muggles, but they are much smarter than me…"

"Can you hand me that paper?" I asked noticing the newspaper on his said of the counter and he grabbed it.

"Why didn't you just summon it?" he asked confused while holding it out to me.

"My wand's upstairs." I explained. "I don't normally keep it on me when I'm at home."

"Why not?" he asked and I could tell the thought of leaving his wand unattended anywhere had never occurred to him before.

"I never really need it." I said shrugging. "How much magic have you used since you got here?"

He frowned slightly, his brow furrowed obviously lost in thought. The fact was, I couldn't remember him using any spells.

"Fair point." He said and I nodded, laughing slightly.

"What?" he asked curiously.

"Nothing." I said grinning. "It's just, Sirius Black has been living like a muggle for the past week."

"Can you write that down?" He asked me.

"Why?" I asked in shock.

"Because I want a written record of it that I can send to my parents."

It was obvious he'd meant it as a joke but I didn't smile. I felt a surge of guilt go through me that I couldn't explain.

"I guess they wouldn't be happy about you being friends with a muggleborn would they?" I asked a little awkwardly.

"Actually they'd be furious." He said off handedly. "That assuming they still gave a damn about me at all." He said but this didn't improve my mood. He seemed to notice because he reached across the counter and took one of my hands in his own, and when he spoke next, his tone was much gentler.

"That's why I left. I hated it there. Honestly Hallie, I'm much happier here with your family, than I ever was with mine."

His eyes met mine and my stomach tightened. I felt a strange tingling sensation where his fingers brushed the back of my hand, although the contact was minimal, I was hyper aware of it.

"Katie! Sirius!"

I jumped and quickly pulled away just as my father walked into the room.

"There you two are, everyone's in the family room. It's movie night."

Sirius shot me a curious look, but I shook my head figuring it was easier to show him than explain and together we walked into the living room.

"Why don't we watch Monty Python and the Search for the Holy Grail?" Kohl asked as Sirius and I both found seats on the couch.

"Yeah, we always watch it when Kate is home." Sampson agreed.

"Don't you think it's time for a change?" Mason asked raising his eyebrow.

"It was Mom's favorite movie." Kohl said coldly.

"I know but we've all see it so many times."

"Not enough if you ask me." Sampson said glaring at Mason.

"Boy's calm down." Mr. Benson said picking up the remote and tossing it to Sirius who caught it automatically. "We'll let the Sirius decide, he won the last round of super sledding so he gets to pick."

Sirius looked utterly confused.

"What am I supposed to do with this?" he asked.

"Dad he's never watched the telly before." I said in exasperation.

"You've got to be kidding me." Kohl asked alarmed. "Never?"

He shook his head.

"Blimey…" Sampson said. "What do wizards do then?"

"Probably what people did before the television was invited." I said rolling my eyes.

"Shut up Morgana." Sampson said.

"What?" Sirius asked confused.

"It's a famous witch in muggle legends." I explained scowling. My brothers always called me that when they wanted to annoy me.

"Yeah and she's very mean." Kohl continued and I shot him a look.

"Well Sirius, what do you want to watch?" My dad asked.

"I'll leave it up to you." He said looking at me. "I really don't know anything about this."

"I agree with idiot one and idiot two over there." I said gesturing towards Sampson and Kohl. "We should watch Monty Python."

"Yes!" they said in unison while Mason groaned.

"So what do we do?" Sirius asked as my father put in the movie.

"We watch it."

"That's it?"

"Yeah."

"Weird." He said frowning.

Mason turned off the lights as we passed around a bag of popcorn and the opening scene of the movie began to play.

"I have no idea what's going on." Sirius muttered quietly next to me.

"That's not unusual with this movie."

"What's with the coconuts?"

"It's just a joke."

"Oh." He said but he clearly didn't get it.

I wanted to pay attention and quote the movie along with my family but I found it difficult. I kept remembering what it felt like when Sirius had held my hand earlier and it didn't help that I was sitting right next to him. About half way through the movie I gave up and let my mind wander to other places, most of them times I'd spent with Sirius.

'Get a hold of yourself' I thought mentally shaking myself. 'Focus on something else.'

But I couldn't. Sirius was stuck on my brain like the lyrics to a song you always heard on the radio. No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't get him out.

Spov

Hallie spent most of the movie explaining to me what it was about. I found a few of the jokes funny, but most of them just went over my head. Her family had found it hilarious apparently, and had been saying the lines along with the movie as it played.

Most nights were spent like this one or the first, doing ridiculous family traditions and games that they'd made up over the years. I found myself wondering how many times they'd watched it together and wishing I'd had something like this growing up but decided not to dwell on it. There was no point focusing on something I'd never have.

One thing was for sure, we were never bored, and it was incredible to see her going along with it with no structure or plans as if it were completely normal to her. Which, maybe out side of school, it was. Over the past week I felt as if I'd learned more about her than I had in all my years at Hogwarts combined.

As the movie ended, Mr. Benson announced he was going to bed. Just as he'd reached the top of the steps, I jumped as a blaring noise rang through the house and immediately Mason hopped to his feet.

"It's just the telephone," Hallie said laughing as Mason tore out of the living room while Kohl and Sampson, both grinning evilly, made their way quickly to the stairs.

"NOBODY TOUCH IT! I GOT IT! DON'T ANSWER THE PHONE!" he shouted while running to the wall where a plastic square hung and from it dangled a cord. He flew past Hallie and snatched at the phone. "Hello?" he asked hopefully then grinned like an idiot. "Amber, hey how are you?"

"It's his girlfriend." Hallie explained.

"Amber can you hold on for a second?" Mason asked. He waited for her response, then covered the mouthpiece with his hand and shouted. "SAMPSON AND KOHL GET OFF THE OTHER PHONE!"

Hallie smirked as we heard laughter break out from upstairs.

"Ok I'm back." He said putting the phone back to his ear.

"Why does it matter if there is another phone?" I asked curiously.

"Well there's only one phone line in the house, so if you pick up any phone when it's already in use, you can hear whatever the person is talking about."

"So they were listening in on his conversation?"

"Yeah. But we should go, give him some privacy." She said walking towards the door as Mason said.

"No I can't talk tomorrow night, my Dad's doing this thing for Christmas Eve…"

"Oh that's right I forgot to warn you." Hallie said as we walked out of the living room and into the main hall. "My Dad throws a party every year the night before Christmas."

"You know I'm a little curious as to why you put the word warn in there."

"Because," she said shaking her head. "These things always tend to get a little wild."

"More wild than your family?" I asked grinning.

"Imagine my family under the influence of copious amounts of alcohol."

"So it should be fun then." I said grinning.

"It's bound to be interesting to say the least."

"Who all is coming?"

"Family friends mostly. Dad's old soccer buddies, a few friends from work and their families. I think Adam might have invited a few of his teammates. The same with Kohl and Sam."

"That should be good for you right?" I teased. "Fit older guys who are already close to your brothers. It's practically open season."

"I don't date football players." She said looking extremely disturbed at the thought. "They remind me too much of my brothers."

"Then who do you date?" I asked curiously, remembering the muggle boyfriends she'd mentioned before, she'd never really gone into much detail.

"Prats mainly." Said a voice from above us and we looked up to see Kohl and Sampson grinning at us from the top of the stairs. "In fact, you're the first decent boy Katie's brought home in years." Sampson continued.

"Yeah Kate, why can't you date blokes more like him?" Kohl asked.

"What do you guys want?" Hallie asked suspiciously.

"Nothing," they said innocently and in unison.

"I don't believe you." She said her eyes narrowing.

"Well," Kohl started giving her a wicked grin. "Dad just told us we had to set up the Christmas lights this year and we were just talking about how much easier it would be if we had some magical help. Since you're home over the break…"

"I am NOT your personal wish granter." Hallie said annoyed. "Dad told you to do it, I'm not going to do your job for you."

"Yeah we know." Sampson said with an expression so similar to Hallie's when she was irritated, I almost did a double take. "You think after years of refusing to use magic around us we haven't gotten the point?" But his expression changed as his eyes fell on me. "But he might."

"Sure." I said shrugging and they looked pleased. "What would do I have to do?"

"Sirius you don't have to do anything."

"Shut up Morgana." They said in unison while clattering down the stairs and jogging towards me.

"Fine." Hallie said rolling her eyes. "But I'm warning you Sirius, those two are like leeches, it's one favor now, but pretty soon you'll be doing everything for them."

"Don't listen to her mate." Kohl said genially while putting an arm around my shoulder.

"Yeah our sister's always been a bit prone to overreactions." Sampson agreed in a falsely gave tone. "Although we try not to blame her, she is a girl after all. We figure she just can't help herself."

Hallie made an irritated noise and walked up the stairs presumably to go to her room.

"Although," Kohl continued while smiling slyly. "There are a few things you could do for us."

"Like what?" I asked suspiciously.

"Just a few favors," Sampson said airily. "Nothing at all strenuous for a magical person such as yourself."

"However it would however help solidify your position in our good graces." Kohl said seriously. "And I think we all know how much that would mean to our dear little sister for her brothers to like someone…"

It was in that moment I knew that Hallie's brothers knew exactly how I felt about her, and while they might not hate me for it like the boys from her past, Kohl and Sampson were willing to exploit it.

"Who knows?" Sampson said in a knowing tone. "It might even help her see that person in a different light…"

"What do you want me to do?" I asked warily.

"Well first off you can fix our room." Kohl said darkly.

"It's still pink." Sampson said darkly and I had to bite back a grin. "But there are other things as well."

"Like?"

"How much do you know about technology Sirius?" Kohl asked me curiously.

"Practically nothing." I said frowning thinking about the mystery light in the fridge.

"Not a problem." Sampson said airily. "Do you know how to make things fly?"

I nodded.

"You know what Sam." Kohl said grinning and clapping me on the shoulder. "I think we've just found ourselves a new best friend. Do you like motorbikes Sirius?"


	18. Chapter 18

Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Harry Potter series and any of the characters. All credit goes to my hero, the wonderful J.K. Rowling! :D

Hpov

"Good work on the decorations boys." Our father said in approval as he passed Sampson, Kohl, Mason, Sirius, and I in the living room on his way to greet the new arrivals. It was about seven o'clock and the party was just starting to pick up. Most of the guests had shown up by now. "I've had about five people compliment me on the lights so far."

"You do realize they made Sirius do everything right?" I asked him and he frowned.

"You did all that?" he asked looking at Sirius who nodded. "Huh, well good work." He finished shrugging and continued walking towards the front door.

"Thank you Judas." Kohl said glaring at me.

"Yeah Kate, way to throw us under the bus." Sampson agreed.

"You didn't DO anything." I said indignantly.

"Yeah but he didn't know that!" Kohl insisted.

"Honestly, sometimes I'm ashamed to call you our sister." Sampson said dramatically and I felt my eyebrows rise.

"Aren't those the twins you invited?" Mason asked looking towards the door which our father had just opened for two very pretty and identical girls with long dark hair and bright green eyes.

"Ah yes!" Sampson said happily.

"Excuse us while we escort our two lovely ladies to the kitchen for refreshments." Kohl said in an exaggeratedly refined voice.

"Yes it was lovely talking to you." Sampson continued in a similar tone and nodding to each of us in turn. "Mason, Sirius, Judas."

I rolled my eyes.

"And they say I overreact." I muttered.

"I'm going to get another drink." Mason said and then looked at me. "Do you want anything?"

I shook my head.

"Oh that's right, no alcohol, I forgot. What about you Sirius?"

"I'm fine." He said.

"Alright I'll see you two later then." He said for some reason giving me a significant look before walking to the kitchen. I frowned and wondered what he meant by it when Sirius's voice broke me from my thoughts.

"Is that what I look like during parties?" he asked looking a little taken a back and I turned to see what he was staring at. Already Kohl was snogging with one of the girls who'd just walked in, and it was obvious that Sampson and his 'date' weren't far behind.

"Yeah actually." I said in amusement.

"Well that's just unpleasant." He said looking troubled.

"Now you know how it feels for the rest of us." I said grinning.

He looked as if he wanted to say something, but was cut off by a young, high pitched voice that yelled.

"SIWIUS!"

We both looked towards the open front door to see Adam and Alyssa outside on the porch, while a tiny blonde haired, blue eyed figure ran down the entrance hallway towards Sirius and hugged his legs when she reached him.

"Hey Junior." Sirius said laughing and picking her up.

She giggled delightedly and began playing with his hair.

"Oh my gosh Sirius I'm so sorry." Alyssa said quickly, clearly embarrassed as she caught up to Junior. Like her daughter, she had wavy blonde hair and a petite frame. I always thought it was funny when she stood next to my brother. He was so much taller than her. "I really don't know what's gotten into her, usually she's so shy."

"It's fine." Sirius said grinning. "I can take her for a while, if you two want to catch up."

"Would you?" Alyssa asked smiling. "That's so sweet."

"Sure no problem." He said then looked at Junior. "Junior do you want to go find a game to play?"

"Yes." She said excitedly.

"Alright then." He said carrying her towards the cabinet where we kept all our board games and a few of Junior's toys for whenever she came to visit.

They continued to talk and their voices started to blend into the crowd as they got farther away, but not before we heard her ask.

"Siwius, do you think aunt Katie is pretty?"

I felt myself blush though I wasn't sure why. I hadn't even heard his answer.

"You're going to be the one explaining to her that he has to leave when break is over." Alyssa said amused. "You should have heard her in the car on the way here, she was so excited."

"I guess all girls love Sirius." I said without thinking really.

"It's hard to see why they wouldn't. He's smart, funny, attractive, and he seems very sweet." She gave me the same sort of significant look Mason had earlier. "Does he have a girlfriend?"

"No." I said then mentally added. 'He has many.'

"Well then what are you waiting for?" she asked me with raised eyebrows. "He obviously fancies you."

"I wouldn't say it's obvious." I said trying to avoid the question.

"Katie…" she said in a 'don't give me that,' sort of tone. "We all see the way he looks at you."

"And?"

"And boys like that don't stay single for long." She said urgently. "Don't you like him?"

"I'm not sure." I said honestly. It was that very question which I'd been thinking about for what felt like weeks now, but what I hadn't considered was that there might be a dead line to make that decision. While he might have been dating half the school, Sirius had always been around, even when I didn't want him to be. But these days I wanted to be around him all the time. We were getting along better than ever and he seemed different… But it was easy to say that here, away from everyone at Hogwarts. I wondered how I would feel if I saw him with other girls when we got back to school.

Did I fancy Sirius?

Sure he was handsome, and funny, and what most girls considered to be perfect all around, but he was also arrogant, a huge player, and he had secrets, dangerous secrets that I wasn't sure if I wanted to get myself involved with. At the same time though, he really did seemed to be changing. In this past week especially he hadn't seemed self centered at all and while there were plenty of girls at this party, he seemed perfectly content to entertain Junior as a favor to Alyssa and me. However, this did not address the secrets. "It's complicated." I finished.

"Well you'd better figure it out." Alyssa said warningly. "Because if you let a guy like that slip between your fingers, you'd better believe there's a line of girls just waiting to snag him."

She had no idea.

Just then, a grumpy looking Junior came wandering back to us through the party.

"Junior." I said in surprised. "Why aren't you with Sirius?"

"Daddy told me to go back to Mommy." She said sounding disappointed that her time with Sirius had been cut short. "He said he wanted to talk to him."

"Even your brothers like him Katie." Alyssa said picking up Junior. "Adam told me that himself. When has that ever happened before?"

I didn't answer. I was trying to think of anything else to change the topic too when Junior suddenly said.

"Aunt Katie?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you going to marry Siwius?"

"What?" I asked in shock.

"Why would you ask that sweetie?" Alyssa asked while she was plainly trying not to laugh.

"Because he said he thought Aunt Katie was beautiful." She said rubbing her eyes and I realized that it must be close to her bedtime. "And Daddy says that Mommy is beautiful all the time." She yawned and leaned her head against her mothers shoulder as I felt my face burn.

"Ok I think it's time we took you to the room." Alyssa said smiling. If she and Adam were planning on spending the night, they would stay in his old room, which now contained a kid sized bed for Junior.

"I hope they get married." Junior mumbled already half asleep. "Because then he would be around forever, and we could keep playing hide and seek."

By the time eleven o'clock rolled around, people were very intoxicated. Someone had apparently decided that right now was the perfect time to start a football game, and of course seeing as it was snowing and everybody was drunk, it became a mixture of street rules football and an all out snow ball war in our small space of back yard before the woods.

"This is getting out of hand." I said ducking a snowball and watching as Kohl slide tackled a random forward, the snow causing him to slide at least six feet. In the dim light from the porch I'd completely lost the ball, and I was wondering how any of them could know where anyone was, let alone if they were on their team.

"Relax." Sirius said grinning. He'd been playing keeper for a while, being a chaser had made him good at catching and it was the position he could most easily relate to quidditch. "This is fun."

"This is chaos." I said stepping back as two boys ran past us, apparently having spotted the ball. "I'm going inside."

"Oh c'mon Hallie." He said walking after me as I made my way to the back door. "It's not that bad."

I was spared the task of thinking an excuse better than 'It's cold' to go back inside when someone shouted walked out into the deck and shouted.

"Everyone come inside! It's five minutes til Christmas and Adam and Alyssa say they have an announcement for everybody!"

"An announcement?" I said frowning. "The last time they made one of those was when she was pregnant…" I felt my eyes go wide. "Do you think?" I started looking at Sirius.

"I dunno, I didn't see her drink anything all night."

"Neither did I." I said.

"It's possible."

"Let's go find out." I said grinning and we joined the mad rush towards the door.

Everyone filed into the living room where Adam and Alyssa were standing together, his arm around her waist as people all found seats on the couch or took a space on the wall. We were all whispering excitedly, but when Adam cleared his throat a hush fell over the crowd.

"As many of you know." Adam said smiling at the now silent room. "Alyssa and I both come from big families, and we've always wanted a big family of our own."

I couldn't help but smile when Alyssa caught my eye and beamed at me.

"We were going to wait until after the holidays to tell everyone, we only found out just last week." she said. "But we couldn't have thought of a better time than right now when we were surrounded by our friends and family to announce that we're expecting another family member."

The room burst into cheers and applause. Someone had popped a bottle of champagne and was offering it around which both Alyssa and I refused.

"We should go congratulate them." I said grabbing Sirius and pushing my way through the crowd of people.

"Alyssa this is wonderful!" I said happily and she pulled me into a hug. "Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

"I wanted to but Adam thought we should wait." She said letting me go as people swarmed around her and my brother, occasionally bumping into me as they shouted their congratulations.

"Have you decided on any names yet?"

"Only if it's a boy." She said. "We're going to name him John like your father."

I wanted to talk more but I was bumped by a very tipsy friend of Adam's and nearly fell. Luckily, I'd stumbled back into Sirius who caught me.

"Uh oh." He said.

"What?" I asked turning to face him. I followed his gaze up to the ceiling and felt a shock go through me. "Oh." I said quietly.

When I'd tripped, I'd knocked both Sirius and I right underneath the mistletoe that was dangling from the light fixture.

The room fell silent, and several people wolf whistled.

I tried to step back but I seemed rooted to the spot. I glanced at Sirius, who looked just as shocked as I felt, and again I realized that no matter how urgently my brain was screaming at my body to move, it just wouldn't.

"Do it!" someone shouted.

His eyes met mine. I could see his thoughts were racing nearly as fast as my heart was beating. Was this really about to happen?

"Kiss her!" another voice yelled.

Sirius glanced somewhere over my shoulder and I turned to see his gaze had found my father's.

"Well." He said looking amused. "It is a tradition after all."

I looked back at Sirius and while it could only have been a few seconds, it felt like several very intense hours as his eyes met mine. This was happening way too fast, I wasn't ready for this. But I didn't stop him as he put an arm around my waist and with his free hand gently lifted my chin. The next thing I knew his lips were on mine and suddenly the world seemed to vanish.

Catcalls and wolf whistles filled the room again but I barely heard them as he pulled me closer. My entire body felt as if I'd just been shocked and electricity ran through me growing stronger the longer his lips kissed mine. My heart was slamming against my chest, I felt dizzy, dizzy as if my whole body had suddenly gone light.

And then it was over.

Sirius let go of me and I could tell from his expression that he had felt everything that I had with the same intensity, if not more.

The clock began to chime and I realized it was midnight on Christmas morning.

"Happy Christmas." I said quietly, my voice breathless.

"Yeah, you too."

I remembered what Alyssa had said about my family liking Sirius and how he probably wouldn't be single for long.

"Sirius?" I asked.

"Yeah Hal?"

"I think we need to talk."


	19. Chapter 19

Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Harry Potter series and any of the characters. All credit goes to my hero, the wonderful J.K. Rowling! :D

Sorry I haven't updated for a while, I got slammed after syllabus week. Thank you to everyone who reviewed! It means so much!

Hpov

I would have preferred it if Sirius and I could have gone to my room, but I knew that despite the fact that my father obviously liked Sirius, he would never have allowed it. In fact, I thought the whole of the upstairs was to be avoided so instead Sirius and I were on the back porch. While it was cold, the party had been starting to wind down as we left, it was cold and no one wanted to go back outside so we were guaranteed at least a little privacy. Slowly but surely everyone was starting to head home.

"Look Hallie, before you say anything." He said quickly as I turned on the outdoor heater and sat next to it. "There's something I want to give you."

He took out his wand and gave it a slight flick, and suddenly a present appeared in his hands. It was wrapped in bright red paper and seemed to be rather heavy.

"Sirius you didn't-"

"I know I didn't have to." He interrupted. "I wanted to and I want you to open it now," he said quietly. "Before things have a chance to get weird."

"Sounds fair." I said and he handed me the present. I was right, it was heavy. "What is this?" I asked curiously.

"Just open it." He said rolling his eyes.

"Alright." I said tearing back the paper and I felt my mouth fall open. "How did you get this?" I asked.

I was holding an original copy of 'Magical Medicine and it's Advancements' James Roana's latest book. I knew it was an original copy because it had been signed.

'To Hallie Benson, best of luck with your ambition to become a Healer P.S. make sure you keep Sirius in line. ~ James Roana'

"Remember when I said his name sounded familiar?" Sirius asked grinning and I nodded. "Well, turns out, your James Roana was an old friend of my Uncle Alphard, only growing up I always knew him as Jimmy Ro. He'd always liked me so when I figured out who you were talking about I sent him a letter seeing if he could give me a copy for you and he sent back this."

"Thank you." I said still looking at the book in shock. I glanced up at Sirius who was looking a little relieved for some reason. "I got you something too. But it's not nearly as good."

"I'm staying at your house over the break and taking me to a concert in three days Hallie," he said rolling his eyes. "You didn't have to get me anything at all."

"Still," I said shrugging while I also took out my wand and gave it a flick. A thin package appeared in my hands and I handed it to him. "Everyone should have a present on Christmas."

"Thanks." He said grinning. He tore open the white wrapping and laughed when he held up the large black t-shirt inside that had the AC/DC logo on it over the words 'Back In Black' in bold letter print.

"Is it too corny?" I asked.

"No Hallie I love it." He said continuing to smile, he too sat near the heater so that he was facing me and he gave me a thoughtful expression.

"What?" I asked cautiously.

"Nothing it's just, can I ask you something?" He asked hesitantly. "You know, without you freaking out and completely shutting down like always?"

"That depends on what it is."

"How can you keep up with it? The different names I mean. Katie and Hallie, it seems like a lot of effort."

"I guess the same way people just get used to nicknames." I said shrugging. "You just do."

"Maybe but honestly, they seem like two completely different people you know?" He said and I couldn't find anything to say. I did know, being around Sirius, especially over break, made me feel like I had when I was a little kid, before my mother had died. Adventurous, borderline reckless, and wild. But that wasn't who I was anymore, at least that was what I thought. "I guess I just don't see why you feel like you have to hide all of this all the time."

"I'm not the only one with things to hide." I pointed out.

"What do you mean?"

"How's your chest feeling?" I said and he looked away, clearly debating what he wanted to say next.

"You're right, you're not the only one with secrets."

"And I'm just supposed to accept that?"

"They're not all mine Hallie."

"So?"

"So you expected me to keep the fact that your real name is Katie from everyone at school, even your best friends and I did. That's the kind of person I am. I keep my word to my friends, and I don't tell secrets. Especially when they're not mine."

There was a tense moment between us that was only broken when he sighed.

"You know I'll always have a thing for Hallie." He said quietly. "She's smart, she's clever, and she knows who she is and that she doesn't need anyone but herself to get what she wants, and I love that about her. But it was also nice to meet Katie." He glanced at me. "As bizarre as this sounds, I think you're is happier when she's around. And I like seeing you happy Hal."

"I only ever feel like Katie when I'm around you." I admitted softly. "I've been trying to get away from that crazy little girl for years now, but then you come along and bring her right back out."

"Is that a bad thing?" he asked.

"I used to think so, but now I'm not so sure."

"Why?"

"You said it yourself." I said looking up at him. "I'm happier when you're around. At least everyone keeps telling me so."

"I never actually said that." He said brushing a strand of hair behind my ear. Again I was hyper aware of his touch and I felt my breath catch as his fingers traced my jaw line softly, causing my heart to skip a beat. "What I said was-"

"Shut up Sirius we both know it means the same thing."

"So I guess that means I should stick around."

"I guess." I said quietly.

"Well that might be a problem." He said.

"What? Why?" I asked quickly feeling my eyes go wide.

"Because it's very difficult to be around someone you're just friends with, when you want something more."

I felt very dizzy again as he leaned closer.

"Look Hallie I know I'm not supposed to ask you out any more."

"I still owe you a date." I said stupidly and he grinned.

"Yes you do, and I'm going to hold on to that for as long as possible. But in the mean time I was wondering-"

He didn't get to finish his sentence though. I didn't know what made me do it, but I suddenly leaned forward and pressed my lips against his. Immediately I was hit with that electric sensation that ran throughout my body. He was surprised at first, but that quickly faded and he pulled me closer to him as the shocks running through me intensified. It was like nothing I'd ever felt before, I wrapped my arms around his neck and ran my fingers through his hair as he put his arms around me. I didn't want this moment to end ever. All of the confusion and frustration I'd been feeling about him for so long just seemed to fade away as his lips touched mine. There was nothing complicated about this feeling, it was the surest thing I'd felt in my whole life. I was here, and he was here, that was all that mattered.

Much to quickly the kiss was over. We broke apart and looked at each other and I realized that I no longer felt even the slightest bit cold.

"You were saying?" I asked quietly and he smiled.

"I was going to ask if you thought me asking you to be my girlfriend counted as asking you out."

"Your girlfriend?" I asked hesitantly. Surely that was what was to be expected after all this, but hearing the actual word sent up a red flag in the back of my mind. His girlfriend, did that mean one of many?

"My only girlfriend." He clarified.

I knew I should have said no, this could only end in disaster I was sure of it. But I was also sure that no one had ever made me feel this way. No one else could make my heart pound like this, or my thoughts race, no one but Sirius seemed to be able to get under my skin and unleash emotions I'd worked hard for years now to keep in check. And for the first time I realized that it was because no one understood me like he did. Some how, in a matter of a few short months of being my friend he'd learned more about me than my closest friends, even my family. Where others had backed off, he'd been the only one who wasn't afraid to keep pushing me until I reacted to him, something no one else had dared to do. I'd found it annoying at first thinking he was just being an idiot, but now I was starting to wonder if there had been a more meaningful reason behind it all.

"You do realize that this is going to cause a whole lot of trouble?" I said and he raised an eyebrow.

"How?"

"Well now that hell seems to be freezing over, I expect some very strange things to start happening."

He laughed.

"So is that a yes?" he asked grinning and I nodded.

He pulled me into his lap and rested his chin on my head.

"Sirius?" I asked hesitantly.

"Yeah Hal?"

"What are we getting ourselves into?"

He chuckled slightly whiled sliding his arms around me.

"I don't know Hallie." He said softly and I could tell he was smiling. "But I can tell you it's bound to be interesting. Everything with you always is."


	20. Chapter 20

Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Harry Potter series and any of the characters. All credit goes to my hero, the wonderful J.K. Rowling! :D

Spov

Hallie fell asleep not long after we'd stopped talking and the party died down. I didn't want to wake her, so I carried her up the stairs and ran into Mason.

"She's out." He said in surprise when he realized that Hallie was genuinely asleep.

"Yeah a little too much fun at the party I guess." I said with a grin. "I'm just going to put her in her room and then call it a night. I'll see you in the morning."

I started to head towards Hallie's room when he said.

"Hold on Sirius."

"Yeah?"

"I want to talk to you, after you put her down of course."

"Alright." I said confused. I carried Hallie to her bed then went back out into the hall to meet Mason but saw he was now at the top of the stairs.

"Come with me." He said gesturing for me to follow him and he started to walk down the steps.

He led me to the basement of the house, which I'd only been to once before to help get the Christmas lights. He turned on the light and walked to the very far side of the basement, which was all one room, towards a large green cabinet that looked as if it had seen far better days. Its paint was chipped and the wood had splintered in some places, and I guessed that it had been her for a very long time. He pulled on one of the rusty knobs and one of the doors opened with a creak. Inside was all kids stuff like finger painted pictures and macaroni art. He reached into the very back of the lowest shelf and pulled out a small white lace box. He opened the lid and inside were several photos.

"Do you know who this is?" he asked handing me one of the pictures.

"It's your mother isn't it?" I asked looking at the woman who was smiling and holding a small baby as if she were the most precious thing in the world.

"Yeah, it's our mother and Katie. Or Hallie to you. This was taken a week after she was born. Do you have a sister Sirius?"

I shook my head.

"Then you don't know what it's like to look at someone, and know that no matter what you do with your life, your most important job is to protect her. No matter how irritating she gets or how maddening it can be to run around after her, it's your job to make sure she doesn't get hurt no matter how impossible that seems."

"No I don't." I said frowning.

"Then you can't possibly know what it feels like to know you've failed. What happened to our Mum, it affected Katie, it changed her. She was hurt so deeply that I don't think she ever really recovered, and none of us could do anything about it."

"I'm sorry." Was all I could think to say.

I wondered why he was telling me this, Hallie said that out of all of her brothers, Mason was the least likely to bother me and I'd gotten the impression that her brothers liked me. But Mason had always seemed to be a bit different from the rest. Mason hadn't done or said anything at any point to signal that he liked or disliked me. I'd just assumed he'd been ignoring me. But I saw now that that was not the case. He was a thinker, he'd been observing me up until this point and had apparently been reserving judgment. And that judgment was being passed now.

"But there was nothing you could have done." I pointed out.

He ignored this.

"Did she tell you how our mother died?" he asked looking at me his eyes unreadable and I was amazed to see that it was the exact same blank expression Hallie had given me many times.

"She doesn't talk about it really, but I do know what happened." I said frowning. "Your mother was attacked wasn't she? By a mugger who lost control because he was drunk, she said that's why she doesn't drink. And that's why you're so protective of her, although I don't see-"

"She didn't tell you, did she?" he asked cutting me off.

"Tell me what?"

"That she was there when it happened."

"What?" I asked sharply and he nodded. Horror crept through me as I suddenly realized why all of her brothers seemed to be so afraid of losing their little sister. They almost had once before.

"Katie and our mom used to go to London together every so often, get their hair nails done, I guess it was sort of their girl time to get away for a little while, after living house full of boys. I'm not sure she was ever wild about the hair or nails part but she loved the time she got to spend with Mom so she put up with it. One day as they were walking though the city and she'd wandered out of Mum's sight. That's why she went looking down that alley, she was trying to find her when she ran into the mugger. Katie heard our Mum shouting and found her. The man was surprised and drunk, he didn't want any witnesses so he went after her and but our mother got in his way trying to defend Katie. And he just lost control." His voice was tight, and he paused seemingly unable to speak for a moment, but he took a steadying breath and continued. "It's lucky she was a witch otherwise I'd be willing to bet she would have died as well. He went after her but she lost control of her magic and turned him into a cat. No one believed her of course, at least not until we found out what she was. They thought being a little kid she'd made up some story in order to deal with the trauma or something you know? The bad man got away but he couldn't come after her now because was a cat. We thought she couldn't really process what happened, and of course no one had believed the man when he went to court, he'd admitted to being drunk."

I felt sick but apparently he wasn't finished.

"She was only seven years old and she watched her mother die, right in front of her." He said quietly. "I know she feels guilty, even though there was nothing she could do. She thinks what happened to Mum was her fault for wondering off that day which is why she tries so hard to be a different person these days. I think that's why she wants to be a doctor so bad, or whatever it is wizards have. I don't think she ever wants to feel that powerless again. It's crazy, but I think she's got it worked out in her head that if she can save people, it might make up for her not being able to save our mother. At least that would explain why she sometimes seems so obsessed. But that's why we're always so worried about her." He said looking at me. "The girl that came out of that moment wasn't kid Katie used to be. She used to be such a wild child, always getting into trouble and having fun, but after our mother died it was like the light in her had burned out. She was quiet, she barely laughed, and she seemed so much older. All she cared about was becoming a doctor, so much that she was loosing touch with the rest of the world. I mean, what seven year old doesn't want to play outside? Plus that incident with the mugger had awoken her magic and she was starting to learn how to control it. I think that scared her too. Obviously she couldn't tell us what was going on so she stopped talking to us. She lost most of her friends and spent all her time shut up in her room. We were starting to think that what she'd seen had caused something to break inside of her, and if I'm honest with myself most of us thought she was going a little mad."

He shook his head and looked back at the photograph.

"In the end, when we found out about Hogwarts and what she was, it was almost a relief. As crazy as all of it sounded to us at first, it was like she was getting a second chance. She made new friends, and seemed to be happier. Not to mention some of the things that we'd been so concerned about were finally explained, but she never seemed to be truly back to herself, at least not until we saw her around you."

"What do you mean?" I asked frowning.

"You remember the day we went super sledding?" he asked and I nodded.

"Yeah that was fun, she seemed to have a good time."

"We haven't been able to get her to do that since she was seven."

I wasn't sure why that the impact on me that it did. I guess, I'd just assumed that the way Hallie had been acting over break, was the way she always acted at home.

"I'm not here to threaten you, or tell you to stay away from her. Some of my older brothers might have before, but I actually think you're kind of good for her. At least around you she seems to be able to have fun again. Besides, I can tell you care about her, and don't deny it." He said when I started to protest. "I can see it in your face, besides I heard you two earlier. But I am going to tell you, you need to be careful, or else she could get hurt."

"I don't think anyone could hurt her." I said frowning. "She wouldn't allow it."

"That's why I wanted to talk to you." He said his eyes flashing. "I think you can. There's something about you Sirius." He continued. "I'm not sure what it is, or why, but it seems to work. She's not afraid to be who she really is around you. And she lets down her guard. But just as I thought she's convinced you like almost everyone else she can just shut off her feelings." He paused and fixed me with an intense gaze. "Sirius, if you're going to date my sister, there's something you need to know."

"What is it?"

"Katie isn't bulletproof, no matter how much she's convinced you she is."

I didn't say anything, mainly because I didn't know what 'bulletproof' meant, but also because I felt as if he wasn't done talking.

"No matter how good she is at pretending Sirius, Katie isn't as tough as she seems. Underneath the sarcasm is a the little girl who lost her mother." He looked back at me. "And honestly, sometimes I think she's still scared."

I didn't know what to say to this, but he didn't seem to require an answer. Instead he turned and walked towards the stairs and I followed him to the second floor.

Hallie's door caught my eye and Mason seemed to notice. He must have realized after what he told me I wanted to see her because he shrugged then said.

"I'm not stopping you." Then opened his door, and went in his room for the night.

I knew I shouldn't have, but I couldn't help myself. After a quick glance over my shoulder to make sure I was alone, I opened Hallie's door and stepped into her room.

It was pretty much what I expected it too look like, posters of muggle bands and sports teams lined the pale blue walls. Her desk was covered in photo graphs of her with Lily and Alice and there was an enormous bookshelf next to the window. I felt a stab of guilt to through me when I spotted a picture of her brothers, but I ignored it. Her bed was too my left tucked in the corner farthest from the window and she was asleep right where I had left her. She rolled to her side and almost as if she'd felt my presence her eyes opened.

"Sirius?" she asked confused and sitting up.

"Hey."

"What are you doing here?"

"I dunno, I'm sorry I just wanted to see you."

"Why?"

I sat on the edge of her bed, facing the window, careful not to give her the wrong impression. I wasn't exactly sure how to answer that, but I found I could relate to her brothers more than ever. Just the thought of her being in that situation, in such danger… I didn't know what I would have done if I lost her.

"Hallie, I'm really sorry about your Mum."

She let out a sigh.

"Who told you?"

"Mason. He told me everything."

"Well then you'll know I'm fine." She said annoyed. "It happened ten years ago, it's over, it's time everyone move on. We all miss her but I'm not a little girl anymore. I don't need them treating me like one."

"Why didn't you tell me?" I asked looking down at her and it was her turn to pause in hesitation.

"I didn't want you to look at me the way my everyone used to." She said quietly while looking away. "Like something was broken inside me, that something was wrong. You always said you thought there was more to me, and for the first time it seemed as if it was something other than just being damaged. I guess I felt like I didn't have to hide the person I was before anymore, because someone saw some good in them, and they weren't just the reason she died." She took a deep breath. "I'll never forget my mother, but around you it's easier to move on. I didn't want to lose that."

"Hallie, it wasn't your fault."

"I know." She said quietly. "And yet at the same time I don't."

"You can't keep beating yourself up over this."

"I know but it's been so long I don't know how to stop."

I reached over and put my hand over hers and she looked up at me. She wasn't crying for which I was grateful, I didn't think I'd be able to handle it if she was.

"I'm sure where ever your Mum is right now, she's proud of you." I said quietly. "And I bet she sees the same thing I do when I look at you, and it's not someone who's damaged. You're smart, beautiful, and a much stronger person than anyone gives you credit for. After your mother died you could have gone to pieces and lived your life in fear, but instead you found a purpose and you're going to become a healer and save lives. I don't think there's anything wrong with you, I think you're amazing and I-"

But I stopped and she looked up.

"You what?" she asked curiously.

I didn't answer at first, I was shocked at how quickly it seemed to hit me, how those three words had almost slipped out, because saying them had felt as natural to me as breathing.

"I- I'm proud of you." I finished and she smiled.

"Thank you Sirius."

I nodded still feeling shell shocked, hardly daring to believe what I'd almost said. A new feeling was spreading through me, one that was drastically intense and all consuming. I looked at Hallie and it intensified.

"Are you alright?" she asked frowning.

"Why do you ask?"

"You look as if you've just been hit in the head by a bludger."

"I'm fine." I said quickly. "I should probably go."

"Yeah you should." She said grinning. "I don't want to think what Adam would do to you if he saw you in here."

"I thought he liked me."

"He does, but let's see how much he likes any boy who's in his little sister's room at three AM."

"Good point." I said nodding.

"I'll see you later." She said her smile growing after I gave her a swift kiss.

"Night Hal." I said walked out of her room and shutting the door.

I made my way back to the guest room feeling dazed with the three words I'd almost said repeating through my mind.

'I love you.'


	21. Chapter 21

Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Harry Potter series and any of the characters. All credit goes to my hero, the wonderful J.K. Rowling! :D

Hpov

The rest of break went by in a happy blur. The concert had been amazing, my brothers were startlingly ok with Sirius becoming my boyfriend, and somehow without my notice, Sirius, Sampson, and Kohl had enchanted my Dad's old motorbike to fly. It had been amusing until they'd crashed it into a pine tree. I didn't know what they were going to say if anyone saw it, let alone how they thought they were going to get it down.

I was so caught up in my perfect little relationship bubble, I hadn't thought about what it would be like to go back to Hogwarts, and return to the real world.

"Hallie?" Sirius asked confused. We'd said good bye to my family and were now on the platform, holding hands as we walked towards the train.

"Yeah." I asked feeling my stomach knotting in nerves.

"Are you alright?"

"Not really," I admitted. "Why?"

"Because you look like you're staring down a troll that's about to charge."

"That's basically what's about to happen." I said distractedly. I'd just seen Alice with her family and Frank.

"What are you talking about?"

"See for yourself." I said wincing as Alice spotted us. Her eyes darted towards me, then down at Sirius's and my hands and her face split into a massive grin.

"I KNEW IT!" she shouted so loudly that half the platform turned to look at her. She disentangled herself from Frank's arms and sprinted towards Sirius and I still shouting. "I KNEW THIS WOULD HAPPEN!"

"Blimey Alice." I said as she tackled me into a hug and Sirius looked entertained.

"When did this happen? Tell me everything! Why didn't you send me a letter?" she asked sound half angry half exhilarated.

But before I could respond another voice asked.

"Alice, why are you crushing Hallie?" It was Lily. She too had spotted Sirius and I and was walking towards us from the barrier she'd just walked through, followed closely by James.

"Because she's in love!" Alice exclaimed jubilantly.

"What?" I spluttered indignantly. Sirius might have been my boyfriend, but there was no reason to jump into saying the 'L word.'

"Yeah what?" Lily asked clearly confused.

"Her, and Sirius!" She said happily then suddenly let me go her eyes wide. "Stay. Right. Here." She said sternly then tore off back to her family.

"As usual I don't follow." Lily muttered watching Alice push through the crowd.

"I think she's saying that a certain two people might have gotten together over the break." James said slyly clearly noticing the fact that Sirius had taken my hand again.

"Really?" she asked her eyes going wide.

I nodded feeling my face burn.

Her reaction was very similar to Alice's. "Oh my god you have to tell me everything." She said quickly linking her arm through mine and dragging me away from the boys who were now laughing at us.

"But-"

"No buts." Lily said as Alice popped out of the crowd and also linked her arm around mine.

"Alright I just said good bye, now you." She said and they both gave me an almost aggressively optimistic smile. "Spill. Now."

I realized I was trapped, locked between both their arms as they dragged me towards the train.

"But can't I-?" I started but they cut me off.

"No!"

"You're coming with us." Lily said happily.

"Your boyfriend can see you later." Alice agreed.

"This is ridiculous."

"This is girl time." Alice said happily. "And we're not letting you go until we know EVERYTHING."

Spov

"Congratulations mate." James said clapping a hand on my shoulder as we watched the girls drag an overwhelmed looking Hallie down the platform, giggling excitedly and interrogating her as they stepped onto the train. "You finally got her to go out without you."

"It only took three years." I said and he laughed.

"Mate." He said as we followed the girls off the platform and on to the Hogwarts express. "If there's one thing I've learned from dating Lily, is that if you're after a girl for that long, she's worth the wait."

We found an empty compartment near the back of the train and sat down.

"So you know how my holiday went." I said grinning and he chuckled. "How was yours?"

"Brilliant." He said with a wide smile and went into a long story about all the romantic sunsets, lovey-dovey activities, and evenings spent alone together. He'd clearly enjoyed himself but as my thoughts drifted towards my time spent doing crazy things with Hallie's family, I privately thought I would have chosen my holiday over James's any time.

"So you're still convinced you're going to marry her then?" I asked as a joke.

"Padfoot mate, I'd have the ring today if I thought she'd say yes."

I was saved the task of thinking a response to this because the door had slid open and Remus walked into the compartment.

"Moony!" James said happily. "How are you?"

"Good, what's up?" he asked grinning and taking the seat next to me.

"Well if you want the condensed version, James considers himself engaged, and my girlfriend is currently being held hostage by his potential bride to be for details about our relationship."

"I thought Alice would be the one to abduct Hallie." Said Remus apparently unsurprised by anything in the sentence.

"Oh she's helping." I assured him.

"So then you and Hallie are official then?" he asked curiously.

I nodded.

"Well it's about time." He said shaking his head. "I was starting to think I was going to have to lock both of you into a room for a few days until you guys admitted to how you feel."

"Yeah I don't think that would have worked." I said frowning. Pre Christmas Hallie was probably more likely just to jinx me and find away out of the room. I had a feeling she'd worked that out in her head to be less complicated than feelings.

James brought up our plans for the next full moon. Apparently both of them had been satisfied with simply knowing the fact that Hallie and I were dating, and didn't ask any more questions. I had to admit, that was a nice thing about being a guy. I knew that wherever she was, Hallie was being subjected to a lengthy and most likely very personal interrogation as Lily and Alice analyzed every moment we'd spent together over the break. It's just what girls did. I had to bite back a grin as I pictured her expression as she was forced to examine her 'feelings'.

"How long do you think it would take us to get to Hogsmead and back?" James asked curiously. He was half convinced he'd discovered a new pathway to the village and wanted to test his theory during Remus's next transformation.

"It shouldn't take too long." I said frowning.

"Even if we leave from the castle?" James asked.

"Where is this statue anyways?" Remus asked curiously.

Suddenly, the compartment door slammed open and Peter came toppling through the door.

"Is it true?" he asked quickly.

"Is what true?" James asked alarmed looking at Peter's frantic expression as he turned towards me.

"Him!" Peter insisted pointing at me. "And Hallie!"

"How do you always know everything?" James muttered incredulously while I nodded.

"Everyone's talking about it, people saw you holding hands. It's all over the train."

"Why does anyone care who I go out with?" I asked annoyed. It was strange to think that at the beginning of last term, I would have loved for everyone to know I was going out with her. While now I didn't particularly care if they were talking about it, I knew it would bother her, something told me this would make my life much more difficult than it needed to be in the near future.

"Because no one can believe it." He said also looking shocked. "I thought it was just a stupid rumor that someone had made up. I didn't actually think-"

"Why is it so hard to believe that Hallie is my girlfriend?" I snapped feeling suddenly very angry.

"Well she has been turning you down since forth year mate." James pointed out.

"That and you don't exactly have the best track record." Remus said almost apologetically.

"So?"

"So what did you expect?" James asked raising an eyebrow. "For everyone to just accept that you changed over break and that suddenly you're a one girl kind of person?"

"This is different." I muttered. "Hallie has always been different, she's not some random girl. I would never cheat on her."

"We know that but no one else does." Remus said shrugging. "For all they know Hallie's just another girl on the list.

"This is ridiculous." I said angrily. "I don't care what anyone is saying, it doesn't matter."

"It might to Hallie." Remus said quietly.

"You don't think she'd actually believe them?" I asked frowning.

"I'm not sure." He said shrugging. "It's hard to tell with her sometimes. Usually things like this wouldn't bother her…" his voice faded and it made me anxious.

"But?" I asked quickly.

"I dunno, I just get the feeling with you they might."

"I'm going to go talk to her." I said standing up.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you mate." James said.

"Why not?"

"See for yourself." He said gesturing towards the door where at least six girls were waiting outside, glancing curiously into the compartment every now and again, clearly trying to see if the rumors were true and if I was with Hallie.

"This is insane." I said annoyed.

"This is karma." Remus said shrugging.

"What do you mean?"

"Padfoot, did you really think you could get away with dating so many girls at once without it blowing up in your face?" James asked.

I didn't answer. I knew that living down my reputation would difficult but never had I imagined it would be like this.

"Oh you've got to be kidding me." James muttered as a girl very noticeably hiked up her skirt and then went for the compartment door.

"Hey boys." She said giving each of us a sexy smile as she stepped into the compartment. "We're having a little get together tonight. My friends and I thought you might want to come."

"Thanks for the invitation." James said frowning. "but we'll pass."

"Are you sure?" she asked looking disappointed. "There will be firewhiskey and who knows. Maybe a little seven minutes in heaven." She glanced at me. "We all know how much you like that game Sirius."

I resisted the urge to smile, I was surprised how naturally it came to me, like a bad habit I needed to force myself to break. Every instinct I possessed was telling me to accept but suddenly, I pictured Hallie and what her expression would be like if she'd seen this. It quickly suppressed any and all desire I had to flirt with this girl.

"I have plans tonight." I said pointedly. "With my girlfriend."

"So it's true then." She said looking not looking discouraged in the slightest. "You and Benson are finally going out?"

I nodded.

"Well that's never stopped you before." She said grinning wickedly. "What she doesn't know won't hurt her right?"

"I said no." I said firmly and she looked annoyed.

"Well, maybe some other time then." She said looking disappointed.

"I don't think so."

"Fine." She said sharply. "Let me know when go back to being fun."

She walked away and I did my best not to notice the way she swayed her hips as she stormed off.

"Wow." Peter said in amazement.

"That's just sad." Remus muttered.

"Well mates it's official." James said shaking his head. "We have just proven that men are in fact more attractive when they have a girlfriend."

"Why won't they leave me alone?" I asked in frustration as a few more girls made their way towards the door, but they suddenly stopped. As if repelled by some sort of powerful force they scattered back down the train and the compartment door opened again, but this time, I was pleased to see the girls that were walking in.

"You boys seem popular today." Alice said amused taking the seat next to Remus while Lily sat next to James. Hallie hesitated and it was obvious she'd known exactly why those girls had been here.

I grinned, took her hand and sat, pulling her onto my lap.

"Did you see how short that girl's skirt was?" Lily asked Alice who laughed.

"That wasn't a skirt, that was a belt."

"You have no idea how glad I am you are here." I whispered quietly into Hallie's ear as the others continued talking and she blushed.

"Why's that?" she asked and I kissed her cheek.

"Because you're the only girl I want to see."


	22. Chapter 22

Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Harry Potter series and any of the characters. All credit goes to my hero, the wonderful J.K. Rowling! :D

Spov

The next couple days were extremely difficult. I'd managed to behave myself, but at sometimes just barely and I could tell Hallie was getting annoyed. She didn't say anything, but she didn't have to. I could only imagine what she was going through. It couldn't be easy when it seemed like every girl in the school had made it her mission to get me to cheat on my girlfriend. She'd given up trying to be around me enough that girls would stay away, they paid her no attention. Instead she'd developed a habit of just leaving when girls were getting a little too intense. I wasn't sure if it was because she trusted me enough to behave myself, or if she didn't trust me at all and just didn't want to be around if I messed up.

James and I had decided to throw a back to school party in the common room, but now that I thought about it, that might not have been the best idea. Fire whiskey and the crowd of girls that surrounded me were not exactly ideal conditions for me to be faithful to one person. But I was trying.

"Sirius that story was so funny." Said one of the girls batting her eyelashes rather obviously at me and putting her hand on my arm.

"Yeah." Another girl said doing the same. "It reminds me of the time you and I-"

"Err… let's not tell that story right now." I said laughing but it died immediately when I saw Hallie's expression across the room. She'd gone to get water and within two seconds I'd been surrounded.

"I've got to go." I said flatly and walked over to Hallie.

"Don't let me stop you having a good time." She said rolling her eyes and sitting at a desk near the window that over looked the lake. I'd realized that she often sat here when she wanted to think.

"Hal, nothing was going on."

"Well that's a relief." She said sarcastically. "Now when I see girls throwing themselves at my boyfriend I can feel so much better."

"Are you angry?" I asked not expecting a straight forwards answer. Girls often lied when asked that question.

"Yes, but not at you."

"Hallie nothing is going to happen with those girls." I assured her.

"You don't know that."

"Yes I do."

"How?"

"Because I'm with you." I said and she looked at me, her eyes unreadable, clearly uncertain what to believe. There was a very long pause as she continued to look at me, sorting her thoughts and I felt unaccountably nervous. I'd never been in a fight in a relationship, they'd always ended much too quickly for that to happen, but I had a feeling I was dangerously close to experiencing it.

"Alright." She said eventually sounding slightly less tense and I smiled, feeling relieved.

"C'mon let's find James and Lily."

She stood and I took her hand, but just as we began walking towards the fire, where James and Lily were sitting with Remus and Alice, a random girl wedged herself between us, breaking our hands apart.

"Sirius, me and a couple of girls are trying to start a game of spin the bottle, are you interested?" she asked sexily.

"You do see I'm with my girlfriend right now right?" I asked her annoyed.

"She can come too." She said with no shame, as if Hallie's presence was of no real importance and this it seemed, was the final straw.

Hallie made an irritated noise and started to walk away.

"Get away from me." I said to the girl and went after Hallie. "Hallie, don't leave."

"I don't feel much like partying Sirius." She said darkly.

"Then we can go somewhere else."

"I just want to be left alone." She said without looking at me.

"Hal, come on..." I started but she ignored me walked towards the portrait hole.

I could tell she was going to run away again, and could have easily followed her, but I didn't. There was no use making her mad. I had a feeling, unlike most girls, that when Hallie said she wanted to be left alone, she meant it.

I watched her go in frustration then fell into the nearest chair running my fingers through my hair. I'd been after Hallie for so long, that I'd imagined what it would be like being with her many times, but never had I pictured it being this difficult. Never before had any girl caused me this amount of stress.

Was it really worth all this?

I closed my eyes and leaned my head against the back of the chair only to see Hallie. Her smile when she'd opened her Christmas gift, the expression she'd had after she'd saved my life from the werewolf attack, and that adorable look of irritated incredulity whenever I made a cocky comment or arrogant remark, as if she was amazed anyone could put up with me, let alone herself. I grinned slightly.

Yes. It was.

I opened my eyes suddenly when I felt someone sit in my lap and I was angered to see Valerie.

"Girl trouble?" she asked innocently while leaning far to close to me. "Anything I can do to help clear your mind?"

"Yes actually." I said and she smiled. "Go away."

Her smile vanished.

"I just wanted to talk." She complained.

"I know what you want." I said pushing her off and standing up. "It's the same thing as all the other girls want. And that's not to talk. The only girl who ever really wants to talk is-"

"Hallie?" she asked in irritation.

"Yes. My girlfriend." I said pointedly. "And it's people like you why she left."

Suddenly, all the attention I'd been getting from those girls was no longer flattering, it was annoying. I didn't want to be with any of those girls, the only girl I wanted to see was Hallie, and they were the ones who had caused her to go away.

"From now on." I said looking at Valerie who looked slightly alarmed at my expression. "Leave me alone. Tell that to your friends too. I'm not interested."

I left her, standing there looking stunned.

I knew what I had to do, and immediately began walking towards the dormitory. I had no idea where Hallie was, but that wasn't a big deal, a few seconds on the map was more than what I needed to find her.

I climbed the steps to the boys dormitory and entered our room, praying that no girls had gotten the idea to follow me.

Hpov

"She can't honestly think he's changed." Someone from the group of girls sitting behind me whispered, not even bothering to keep her voice down as I worked in the library. It was obvious who they were talking about and I just didn't have the energy to fight with a bunch of idiotic underclassmen about my relationship with Sirius.

"Who does she think she is?"

"I don't see why he'd even like her."

"She's not even pretty."

"Honestly, even I wouldn't be that dumb."

I knew people would talk about Sirius and I starting to date, but if I thought Alice's reaction was bad, it was nothing compared to Sirius's fan girls.

The school seemed to be pretty much divided on the subject into two halves, which was amazing to me because I didn't see why anyone would care. The first group, Slughorn prominent among them, were just like Alice, relieved that the waiting was over and had sworn up and down that they knew it was going to happen along. The second group, which consisted of girls in Sirius's fan club, was not quite as supportive. In fact, they hated it, or rather they hated me.

Each of them had seemed to make it their new life goal to test his resolve and they came up to him flirting and adoring him like never before and as much as Sirius tried to hide it, I knew he was struggling to resist the temptation. I wasn't sure if I could even blame him. So far he'd been ok, but any boy might have cracked under that kind of pressure, and he was by nature a ladies man.

I couldn't stand to watch it anymore. I was sick of being pushed to the side by all these other people and it was infuriating to watch him struggle.

I'd finished my homework last night but I couldn't be around him right now. I was just simply stalling for time so I didn't run into Sirius in the common room before I went up to bed. I reached in my bag looking for something to do and I pulled out a book. I felt a shock go through me when I realized I was holding the book he'd had given me for Christmas.

"How long did you think you could hide from me Hallie?"

I jumped for a moment half sure I'd imagined his voice, but when I looked up, Sirius was there.

"I'm not hiding from you." I lied and he raised an eyebrow. "I've just got a lot of work."

"You know I can tell when you're lying right?" he asked sitting in the chair next to mine and folding his arms over his chest while he looked at me.

"You'd be the first."

"I can see it in your eyes." he said as if I hadn't spoken.

"How did you find me?" I asked deflecting his question with one of my own. I knew none of my friends had told him, I'd made the decision to come here on my own.

"I have my ways." He said cryptically and my mood didn't improve.

"So you get to hide things but I don't?"

"You're the one avoiding me." He pointed out. "Not the other way around. I'm your boyfriend, you can't just keep running away." He added. "As long as you're in the castle, I'll be able to find you."

"How?" I challenged.

He didn't answer.

"What a compelling argument." I said sarcastically.

"Hallie for the past week I've been trying to get you to talk to me, but you've shut me out completely."

"Can't you leave this alone?" I asked quietly.

"No."

"Sirius I don't want to talk about this."

"And I don't want to spend all of next week chasing you around trying to force you to talk to me." He said flatly while adopting an expression that made me feel like I was two again, fighting with my father about my refusal to put my socks on.

"Why won't you just let it go?" I asked him annoyed. Only he could be this irritating.

"Because I care about you." He said and for some reason, those words seem to unlock everything I'd been trying to hold back.

"That's not what everyone else thinks." I muttered bleakly.

His eyes landing on the girls behind me. He ran his fingers through his hair and sighed. "Remus said you might react like this."

"You talked to Remus about me?" I asked furiously.

"I wanted to talk to you." He said darkly. "But you've done a damn good job of avoiding me. Every time something difficult happens you just run away."

"Of course I've been avoiding you Sirius." I said, the words tumbling out before I could stop them. "Would you want to be around me if boys came up to me all the time and tried to convince me to sleep with them as if you weren't even there? And mean while, everyone in the school is calling you an idiot, reaffirming your fears that you're making a mistake in trusting me. I don't want to see girls throwing themselves all over you, and I'm sick of people looking at me like I'm an idiot whenever I'm with you. It's bad enough I have to hear it wherever I go."

"But it's not anything I've done?" he asked and I glared at him realizing that once again he'd managed to convince me to say everything that I'd been trying to hold in.

"No." I admitted.

"Then come with me." He said suddenly taking my hand and pulling me out of my chair as he stood.

"Why?" I asked frowning and putting my bag over my shoulder.

"It's a surprise."

"You know Sirius I am really not in the mood." I said with a sigh. I wasn't up for any of his games right now. I didn't want to be around him when he was being charismatic or irresistible. Just the thought of trying to keep a clear head when he was like that was exhausting. I just wanted to be miserable for a while and left alone.

"I don't care." He said. "You owe me a date Hallie, you can't say no."

"Sirius, It's nearly nine thirty. Where the hell are we going to go for a date at this time of night?"

"You'll find out." He said pulling me towards the exit.

"It's snowing, besides, unless you're planning on taking me to an empty class room we have no where to go."

"You know you're not thinking very creatively." He said in disapproval. "Turn on your Katie brain for a moment will you?"

I wanted to yell at him for calling me that, but I was too intrigued to be angry. If I was Sirius and I wanted to be alone with someone, where would I go?

"You want to leave the castle?"

"There we go."

"And how do you expect to get out?" I asked him skeptically. "The castle's locked for the night."

"You know I'm a little insulted Hal." He said and I felt an eyebrow rise. "Do you really think after nearly seven years of mischief making my friends and I haven't found one way to get out of the castle after dark?"

"No." I said sourly. "But I would be very surprised if you ever actually showed me anything you and your friends get up to."

"Well I guess it's your lucky day then." He said grinning.

"What do you mean?"

"Because last time my mates and I were, well as you put it, 'getting up to something', we found something cool. Something I've wanted to show you, but I thought I might be a little dangerous."

I looked back at the girls who were all glaring at me, clearly upset that I'd had Sirius's fullest attention.

"Will it be fun?"

"Very fun." He said grinning.

"Let's do it." I said determinedly.

"That's my girl." He said laughing and putting his arm around my shoulders. "But now that I think about it, we might want to put on some warmer clothes."

"Why?"

"Because as you said, it's snowing. And you and I are in for a bit of a hike."


	23. Chapter 23

Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Harry Potter series and any of the characters. All credit goes to my hero, the wonderful J.K. Rowling! :D

Spov

One thing I liked about Hallie was that she didn't complain much. I knew if I'd taken any other girl out of the warm castle and asked her to come crawling over slippery rocks and boulders in the freezing cold and snow on a date, they either would have refused to go or never let me hear the end of it. But not Hallie. She seemed to be having fun.

"Careful." I said quickly and catching her as her boot skidded on the slick ground and she slipped, almost toppling down the cliff.

We were in the mountains past Hogsmead and I was amazed again at how well she was keeping up. I'd been in these mountains more times than I could count and knew the trails like the back of my hand, but I didn't even have to slow down for her. She was just as capable as James or Remus, and certainly far more capable than Peter.

"Thanks." She said smiling up at me and I felt my heart skip a beat. Just getting out of the castle had already seemed to raise her spirits and I took her hand as we continued to walk.

"No problem. We wouldn't want a pretty girl like you to get hurt."

"I'd be more worried about what Lily would do to you if she found out you let something happen to me."

"Well you don't have to worry because I won't let anything happen to you." I promised.

"You sound pretty confident." She said with interest.

"I'm a confident person."

"Not everything is in your control."

"No, but most things are." I said looking down at her. "Besides. Wasn't it you who said women are attracted to confident men?"

"Are you really using my own words against me?" she asked amused.

"Yes actually I am." I let go of her hand. "Ok, this is the last part we have to go over." I said looking up at a stone ledge that was about fifteen feet above us. "If you want I can go first and help you up-"

"Hold these." She said rolling her eyes and shoving her gloves into my chest. She got to work finding bumps and grooves on the cliff face to latch onto and pull herself up. In less than ten minutes she'd pulled herself all the way to the top and was grinning down at me.

"Need help?" she asked smirking.

"How did you learn how to free climb?" I asked her impressed.

"I have four brothers Sirius." She reminded me. "We used to do stuff like this all the time. If I didn't teach myself how to keep up with them I was left behind. Chuck us the gloves."

I threw her the gloves she had handed me and tossed her mine as well. I climbed up after her, and tried not to feel a little humiliated when I realized she'd gotten up quicker than I had.

"Where to next?" she asked handing me my gloves.

"That way." I said gesturing towards a peak that jutted into the night sky and the thin gravel path that snaked around the far side of it. I smiled slightly when I realized how the moonlight looked in her hair then realized with a jolt that it was nearly full moon. It was no wonder why it was so easy to see tonight despite the fact neither of us had lit our wands. I had been so preoccupied by my relationship with Hallie, I hadn't been keeping track of that sort of thing. Not good.

"So, I've got a question." Hallie said her tone curious.

"Yeah?"

"Don't get me wrong, I don't mind hiking, but wouldn't it have been much easier if we were to fly here? I mean, you have a broom."

"Being airborne isn't the safest thing here."

"Why?" she asked interestedly as we turned the corner and her eyes went wide. "Sirius, why is the mountain on fire?"

"Look closer." I said grinning and I watched her mouth fall open as one of the flaming creatures spread it's fiery wings and took flight. She gasped.

"Are these…" she started in disbelief looking around the cliffs in wonder. All around us were giant burning birds casting the rocks into bright golden light as they flew from ledge to ledge.

"Phoenixes." I finished for her. "Wild ones. We were shocked too when we found it."

"How did you find it?" she asked in wonder, the flames reflecting in her wide blue eyes.

"It was an accident really." I said taking her hand. "We were exploring the mountains and we just sort of stumbled on it."

"I can't believe how many there are." She said quietly.

"I know, mad isn't it?" I asked and she nodded. "I think it's a nesting ground."

Suddenly, one of the large birds swooped down from above and landed a mere few feet in front of us. Hallie tried to move towards it but I held her back.

"What?" she asked.

"Hallie these are wild phoenixes, they're not tamed, who knows how they'd react."

"Oh calm down." She said and she pulled her hand from my grip and made her way towards the flaming bird. The fire on it's wings seemed to grow dimmer as she approached it, and by the time she reached out to stroke it's wings, the flames were completely out.

"Hey there little guy." She said smiling and it let out a soft musical hoot, that almost sounded as if he were enjoying her touch. Suddenly, the entire mountain side was filled with a strange but beautiful music. All around us the phoenixes were singing, and I felt my heart beating faster. As I looked down at Hallie as she laughed while the bird fluttered onto her shoulder, there were a million things I wanted to tell her, but had no idea how to say them. My stomach was tight, and I felt like I was speeding towards something, something I wasn't ready for but was going to happen anyways.

"Hallie I-" I started but was cut off in shock when the bird suddenly erupted into flame on her shoulder. "HALLIE!" I shouted terrified running towards her but before I could even reach her it was over. The beautiful scarlet and gold bird had vanished and was now replaced by a fuzzy red fledgling that was squeaking in high pitched cries. Around us the singing had stopped and the birds were now taking off. They rose into the night sky like fire works, burning as bright as the sun as they shot through the darkness taking the golden light with them. Suddenly, we were left alone in the moonlit cliffs, with the tiny phoenix that had now hopped happily into Hallie's hands, looking perfectly content to stay there forever.

"I think this might be the most adorable thing I've ever seen." Hallie said smiling as the bird closed it's wide black eyes and tucked it's head under it's fuzzy wing and went to sleep in her palms.

"I think he likes you." I said grinning and bushing ash off of her shoulder.

"Does this mean I get to keep him?" she asked hopefully, a child like excitement in her eyes.

"I've no idea what it means," I said frowning and looking at the little bird. "I've never seen anything like this happen before. But look Hallie there's something I want to tell you." I said having finally found the right words, and wanting to get them out before the courage the phoenix song had given me wore off. I could already feel it starting to fade.

"Yeah?" she asked curiously, clearly still ecstatic about the tiny bird.

"I know it can't be easy, trusting me and if I were in your position I don't know how I'd be able to do it. I mean I could tell you a million things you wanted to hear and you'd still never know how I really felt but just know that I am trying."

She looked shocked at my tone and I was surprised to hear myself sounding desperate for the first time in my memory.

"I care about you," I continued. "I really do, and I never want to hurt you. In fact I haven't wanted anything to work out more in my entire life so please." I put my hands on her shoulders. "Don't give up on me before you really give this a try."

"You make it sound like I have a choice." She said quietly.

"You always have a choice." I said frowning.

"Not with you I don't." she said blushing. "Not really."

I smiled and then kissed her.

"We should probably get back to the castle." I said as we broke apart and the phoenix gave another soft hoot. "What are you going to name sparky here?"

"Sparky?" she asked frowning in distaste. "You did not seriously just call my phoenix sparky?"

"He's yours now?"

"For the time being." She said happily. "He can't fly right now, and all the other phoenixes are gone. Someone has to take care of him."

"Only you could go out on a date, and come back with a dangerous fiery pet." I said rolling my eyes.

"Have you got a problem with that?" she asked raising an eyebrow at me.

"No," I admitted.

"Good because otherwise Kindle and I would have to kick your butt."

"Kindle?"

"Yes Kindle." She said smiling and holding up her new pet.

"You know I don't think we're allowed to have phoenixes." I pointed out.

"Dumbledore has one."

"Dumbledore is the head master."

"Are you seriously lecturing me on the rules?" she asked incredulously. "Who are you and what have you done with Sirius Black?"

"You know what the strange thing is." I said grinning. "If I had gone back in time and met my fourteen year old self, right before I'd met you. He might just ask the same question."


	24. Chapter 24

Hpov

After my date with Sirius, I wasn't too worried about other girls and eventually they seemed to give up. School was normal, Gryffindor was in the lead for both the house and quidditch cup, and everything would have been perfect if it hadn't been for the strange stories in the paper that kept cropping up over the past few weeks.

"Two more people have gone missing." James he said to no one in particular and frowning as his eyes scanned his copy of the evening 'Prophet'. He was with Lily, Remus, Sirius, Alice, and I sitting by the common room fire. We were doing a variety of things. I was working on a potions essay with Remus, Lily was reading for her Arithmancy quiz tomorrow, Alice was writing a letter to Frank, and Sirius, as usual, was trying to distract me from homework.

"You should take a break." He said pulling me into his lap and I dropped my book.

"Sirius-" I started but he cut me off with a kiss.

"Can't you take a little break?" he asked his eyes pleading when we broke apart.

"To do what?" I asked grinning.

"Talk." He said kissing me again.

"That's not talking." I said amused breaking away from him and he looked disappointed. "Are you sure that's what you really want?"

"It is," he said. "But I can't help that my lips like yours."

"Are you going to let go of me?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Why should I have to let go of my girlfriend?" he asked.

I blushed. It was still so strange hearing him say that while referring to me.

"Get a room." Remus said rolling his eyes.

"This is a room mate." Sirius said still grinning at me and not bothering to look at Remus.

"Your own room." Alice said and Lily giggled.

"What?" she asked curiously.

"Nothing." Lily said. "It's just you and Frank used to snog in the common room all the time."

"Speaking of Frank." She said grinning happily. "Guess who's coming to visit this weekend for Valentine's Day?"

"Wait what?" I asked distracted and looking away from Sirius. "Valentine's Day is this weekend?"

"Yeah Hal." Lily said amused. "Where have you been?"

"Classes, the library, the hospital wing, the library again, and then her dormitory. In that order." Sirius said smirking.

"Yeah and you've been following her around." James added causing everyone to snicker.

"What is everyone doing for Valentine's Day?" Alice asked curiously.

"I'm going in to Hogsmead with Patricia." Remus answered. Patricia was the Ravenclaw he'd been dating since before break. No one really knew what was going on with them, but they seemed to be in a kind of sort of relationship, but nothing he seemed to want to define. Part of me wondered if Remus might have a fear of commitment.

"I'll be with Frank." Alice said happily. "Lily?"

"James and I are going into Hogsmead as well." She responded.

"Hal and I don't have plans apparently." Sirius said smirking and I rolled my eyes but then he frowned. "Does anyone know what Peter is up to?"

"No, in fact, I have no idea where he is." James said frowning. "Has anyone seen him?"

"Last I saw he was talking to Valerie just after lunch." Remus said going back to his essay.

"Valerie?" I asked in surprise. Valerie had refused to talk to me since we got back. It was irritating really that she was acting so immature, but I decided just to let it go, there was no point in pushing the boundaries especially when every time she saw me, she looked as if she was ready to jinx me in my sleep.

"Yeah, I think he was planning to ask her out for Valentine's."

"Did she say yes?" Lily asked curiously.

"I dunno, I didn't actually hear what they were saying but she was laying the charm on pretty thick from what I could tell."

"That's interesting." Alice said frowning.

"She's probably just trying to make Sirius jealous." Lily said shrugging. "She can't have him, so she goes for one of his mates."

"That's fine with me." Sirius said wrapping his arms tightly around me and pulling me closer to him. "As long as she leaves me and Hallie alone."

I smiled as he kissed me on the cheek.

Being in a relationship with him was felt a little like whiplash. Right now Sirius was in what I called 'perfect boyfriend mode.' When he was like this, he was ridiculously sweet and lovable, and for lack of a better word, perfect. But other times perfect Sirius seemed to disappear. He still had secrets and I had no idea what he and his friend got up to. It was strange, one day he'd seemed totally involved, the next he was distant, and I had no idea why.

I'd brought this up to Lily a few times and while James never seemed 'distant' to her, she admitted that he too had secrets from her. We'd spent a great deal of time with Alice trying to figure them out, but eventually we'd given up. We really had no idea what they got up to when they went wandering around at night.

"What do you want to do for Valentine's Day?" Sirius asked me curiously while the others continued the conversation about Peter and Valerie. He seemed distinctly uninterested in his friend and my roommate's relationship.

"Anything," I said shrugging. "As long as we avoid Madam Puddifoot's."

"Agreed." He said grinning. "We could always go adventuring again, who knows, we could visit the shrieking shack and you could bring home a pet ghost."

"No Kindle is enough for me." I said grinning. The phoenix had apparently taken a liking to captivity. He enjoyed roosting in the owlry with the rest of the school owls and came to visit me every now and again. While he didn't deliver letters, I had to admit I was fond of having him as a pet. "But adventuring does sound like fun."

"It's settled then." He said grinning. "This Saturday we'll skip the whole cards and romantic crap and do something fun."

"I like the way you think." I said smiling.

Just then the portrait hole opened and Peter walked in looking distracted.

"Hey Peter!" James said grinning. "How did the attempt to ask out Valerie go?"

"Good." He said smiling almost guiltily back at us, his eyes darted to me quickly before he continued. "She said yes."

"That's excellent mate." Sirius said and he sounded like he meant it.

"Yeah. Hey I've got a question for you lot."

"What is it?" Remus asked.

"What are you guys working on in potions this year? Like what's the curriculum so far?"

"Well we just finished enhancing elixirs." Lily said helpfully.

"But what does that include?"

"Well a variety of things." Alice said looking up from her letter. "Soothing solutions, love potions, euphoric inducers."

"Yeah that's what I thought." He said frowning.

"Why?" I asked curiously.

Again he glanced at me nervously.

"Just wondering." He said in an innocent voice that I for some reason didn't believe. "Valerie just was asking some questions about it."

"Why would she care what we're doing in potions?" I asked frowning.

"No idea. When's the next quidditch game James?" he asked quickly, clearly wanting to change the subject.

"Next Saturday but Gryffindor doesn't play for the next couple of weeks." He answered and the boys launched into a discussion about the Gryffindor chances for the quidditch cup but I kept an eye on Peter. He still looked nervous and wanted to know why.

Sirius didn't tell me what we were doing for Valentines Day, all he told me was that we'd be spending the day outside and considering the grounds were still covered in snow I decided to wear something warm.

"Sexy." Alice snickered when I finished putting on boots, my hat, gloves, a ski jacket, and my scarf. She and Lily were dressed much more elegantly. Lily with a cute sweater dress and boots where as Alice had gone the whole way with a stunning red dress with a cut out back.

"At least I'll be warm." I said refusing to be embarrassed. Alice might have a cloak but nothing was going to protect her toes in those heels from hypothermia.

"Well it's a good thing you've got a great personality." She continued winking as Lily laughed. "Because with that jacket it's clear that's all he's getting to see tonight."

"Oh shut up." I said darkly and made my way to the common room.

I made my way down to the common room alone seeing as they were still getting ready, to find the boys were already waiting.

"Sirius mate, I think you're girlfriend's been eaten by her wardrobe." James said laughing and I rolled my eyes.

Sirius grinned and I was irritated to see that even in snow clothes he looked amazing.

"I think she looks cute." He said. "Like an adorable pillow."

"Let's just get this over with." I said darkly and he laughed.

"After you love." He said opening the portrait hole and we stepped outside. "You know it's probably a good thing you're wearing so many layers though. I was worried you might take Alice's advice."

"What?" I asked confused.

"Remus told me she was trying to convince you to wear one of her dresses."

"Oh, that advice." I said with a shudder. I remembered the one. It was a bright pink cocktail dress and a pair of heels I was certain I'd trip and break my neck in if I'd been trusted by anyone enough to wear them.

"Not that I would have minded." He said grinning shiftily. "But, I didn't think you'd want to be cold."

"Where are we going?" I asked curiously as we made our way to the grounds and but instead of joining the crowd of students going to Hogsmead, he took a left and started walking straight towards the forbidden forest.

"To a very special place to me." He said. "You've actually been there before."

"I have?"

"Yes." He said nodding and taking my hand as we walked, suddenly I regretted wearing gloves.

We stepped through the trees and talked about nothing in particular for a while as we walked, and just as I was starting to wonder if he knew where we were going, the trees began to thin and I found myself for the second time this year in a clearing in the middle of the forbidden forest, only this time it was covered in snow.

Next to the small lake, which had frozen over completely, was a small table, with a jar of blue fire in the center. It was so warm it had melted all the snow with in five feet of it. It was set with two plates and all of my favorite foods both wizarding and muggle. Next to it, were two pairs of ice skates.

"This is incredible." I said amazed. "How did you do all this?"

"By waking up very early." He said amused at my dumbfounded expression. "Oh and there's one more thing."

He whistled and I saw a flash of scarlet fly out of the trees. He took my hands and faced my palms upward and I jumped as there was a burst of fire, and a bouquet of roses appeared in them.

Kindle, who by now had returned to his usual size, fluttered down and landed on his shoulder and Sirius grinned.

"Kindle might have helped a little." He said and I laughed. "Sorry if it's a little too romantic, but I figured they are your favorite."

"I love it." I said smiling. "This is the sweetest thing anyone's ever done for me."

"Well I'm glad that title belongs to me." He said looking pleased with himself. "So what do you want to do? Eat, skate, train Kindle how to sing the Hogwarts theme song? Ouch!" he said when Kindle bit him on the ear and I had to hold back a giggle.

"None of the above." I said shifting the roses to one arm freeing my right hand.

"Then what do you suggest we do?"

I bent down grabbed hand full of snow and threw it at him while saying.

"I challenge you to snow ball fight."


	25. Chapter 25

Spov

"HALLIEEEEE! LILYYYY!"

"What the-?" Hallie started looking confused as Alice burst into the pub dragging Frank behind her with a wide smile.

We were in the Three Broomsticks with Lily and James, meeting up for dinner on Valentine's Day. In their nice clothes, they looked distinctly more put together than Hallie and I. They'd spent most of the day doing typical couple activities, a slay ride around Hogsmead, lunch in a cozy little tea shop, where as Hallie and I were both looking rather disheveled after ice skating, a series of snowball fights, and an all out war she'd started by animating several snowmen when she realized she was going to loose the snowball fight. By the end of day, it had been her army of snowmen against mine, and I had lost spectacularly.

Everyone turned to stare at Alice who made a B line for her best friends.

"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!" Alice continued.

"Something tells me you ladies are about to be taken away." James said amused.

"I think I know what's happening." Lily said her eyes wide.

"What?" Hallie and I asked in unison but our questioned when Alice reached the table, still beaming and thrust forward her left hand, which had a glittering ring on it.

"He proposed!" she squealed. "We're getting married!"

Hallie's eyes went wide while Lily immediately started questioning Alice. Both girls grabbed Hallie and made their way giggling towards their own booth, apparently having completely forgotten about us. Hallie glanced over her shoulder, gave me an apologetic look, then turned back to her friends and immediately joined into the conversation. Apparently this was one of the few situations in which she actually enjoyed girl talk.

"And that is how you lose your fiancé in less than five minutes lads." Frank said laughing. "Mind if I join you?"

"Of course." I said with a nod and he took the now empty seat next to James. We'd known Frank for a while now. He'd played keeper on the quidditch team with us and we were actually pretty good friends.

"How are you guys doing?" Frank asked.

"Good." We replied in unison and he looked at me.

"So you and Benson are finally together huh?"

I nodded.

"Well I'll have to thank you for that." He said grinning. "I had about a week's worth of excited letters from Alice, and anytime she's happy my life's a whole lot easier. You have no idea how long she's has been waiting for you two to go out. In fact I can't tell which she was more excited about, you two or our engagement." He finished with a laugh.

"I always knew you and Alice would tie the knot." James said grinning.

"Yeah everyone says that." He said. "Some people might think I'm out of my mind for doing this so early but I figured now or never right?"

"What do you mean?" I asked confused.

"Well Alice is only half the reason I'm in town." He said lowering his voice.

"What's the other half?" James asked curiously.

"Yeah, something that competes with your engagement must be big." I finished for him.

"Actually, I came here to talk to you two."

"About what?" We asked in unison.

He hesitated for a moment, as if unsure how to approach what he wanted to say next. To buy time, he looked at the girls, who were still talking excitedly from their booth across the pub.

"Have you been reading the papers lately?" he asked turning away from the girls and back to us.

"Yes." I said frowning.

"So you know about all the weird stuff going on, I assume you of all people can figure out who's behind it." He said looking at me and I nodded.

"Death Eaters." I said darkly.

"Exactly." Frank muttered

"What about them?" James asked.

"Do you ever wish you could do something about it?" he asked hesitantly.

"Of course." James said.

"I mean, like, seriously do something about it." He continued giving us a strange look. "Not just saying you do."

"What do you mean?" I asked suspiciously.

"Look I've known you two for years now, and you've always seemed to be the kind of people to take action, who can't stand to sit back when they can stand and fight."

"You're right about that." James said frowning. "But we can't do anything can we?"

He leaned closer again lowering his voice and after looking around said. "What if I told you could?"

"We're listening." I said with interest.

"Hypothetically speaking, what if there was a group, working outside of the Ministry, who was building a resistant against Voldemort and the Death Eaters."

"And, hypothetically of course, you were a member of this group?" I asked him.

"It's a possibility." He said nodding. "And in this hypothetical situation, what if I were to offer you an invitation to meet with the founder of such a group, tonight, in order to discuss joining said hypothetical group. Would that be something you two, and a number of a select group of people you trust, would be potentially interested in?"

"It is." James said frowning.

"Dark times are ahead mates, it's why I've proposed to Alice. If something were to happen…I don't want to have any regrets."

"What do you mean?" I asked. "Why are you approaching us now?"

"Voldemort has much more power and numbers than the Ministry is admitting, and we need as many people as we can get. We would have approached you sooner, but you weren't of age until recently or nearly qualified enough. But you'll be out of school soon, and I'm sorry Sirius, but we needed to see where your loyalties lie. You'll be fighting against members of your family, and we weren't sure that was something you can handle."

"Trust me, I can." I said darkly.

"Well that became evident when you started dating Hallie."

"Does Alice know about this?" James asked frowning.

"She knows about as much as you do right now." He said cryptically. "But if you do turn up tonight I'll ask you not to tell her anymore. Or even about this meeting. I'm sure you can understand my hesitation. I want her to at least have the option of graduating and starting a relatively normal life without getting involved in all of this."

"No." I said frowning. "I don't. Isn't that her choice?"

"Don't be thick mate." James said. "How would you feel if Hallie knew about this? If she wanted to join?"

A feeling of intense horror crept through me as I pictured Hallie, fighting against people like my cousins or my brother. Determined to eliminate her just for existing, her only crime being born.

"Alice will get her choice when the time is right. In the mean time I want her to focus on her own life. But you two, I knew what your decision would be, and from the moment the Head of our Order said to look out for possible new recruits, you two were the first to come to mind."

"So this Head." I said frowning. "When do we meet him?"

"Here." He said taking a scrap of parchment from his pocket and laying it face down. "Look at it, memorize the location and time."

I picked up the parchment and saw four words written in loopy handwriting.

' _The astronomy tower, midnight.'_

I handed it to James who looked at it, then passed it back to Frank face down. He laid it on the table, tapped it once with his wand, and the paper burst into flame.

"You're a secretive bunch aren't you?" James asked grinning, but Frank didn't crack a smile.

"There are spies everywhere James." He said seriously. "And they would kill to get this information. Speak of it to no one, unless you think they intend to join the Order."

We nodded.

"Will you be there tonight?" I asked him and he shook his head.

"No I've got to get back to London, I've got training tonight. And if you'll excuse me," he said standing up. "I'd like to spend my remaining time with Alice. I hope to see you two much more in the near future."

"Us to." James agreed.

He walked across the pub and stole Alice away from the girls.

"Should we tell them?" James asked.

"No." I said quickly. "Moony and Wormtail yes, but not the girls, not yet."

I didn't think I could stand seeing the determined look on Hallie's face whenever she was told about something others didn't want her to do, at least not about this. I knew Hallie, she'd want to fight and the second I told her I didn't want her to join, it would be the first thing she would do.

"Padfoot, I don't know about you and Hallie, but I don't think I can keep this from Lily." James muttered quietly as both girls walked back to us, looking carefree and completely unconcerned with the real world and what was going on in it. It had only been hours, but suddenly I felt as if the time spent with Hallie today seemed like years ago.

I wasn't sure why, but I suddenly noticed how beautiful she was. Her long brown hair fell over her shoulder as she tucked it behind her ear and her deep blue eyes were amused as Lily continued to talk about some unknown subject. She'd always looked like this, but something in me had changed.

Seeing Hallie right now, laughing and looking so happy made my stomach clench. I didn't want to be the one to ruin that happiness, and I refused to be the one to put her in harms way. The way I felt towards her was different, like the night I'd been in her room, thinking of what it would be like to loose her, but more intense than ever. Suddenly, I realized I would be content to look at her, happy like this, forever. This feeling was so powerful and all consuming it scared me. Half of me wanted to leave right now and never look back, the other, more dominant part of me wanted to stay, hold Hallie and never let go. And I knew in this moment, if I had the chance, I never would.

"Just hold off until tonight." I said quietly to James as the girls approached the table. "Until we know everything that's going on. Then we can decide what we want to do."

"Well what are we going to do?" Peter asked quietly while sitting on his bed. We'd just made it back to the dormitory at about four in the morning, after talking to Dumbledore about his secret organization the Order of the Phoenix.

"Hold on." James said taking out his wand and quietly muttering a few spells. I knew he was sound proofing the room making absolutely sure that no one could heard the conversation we were about to have.

"I'm joining." I said simply when James had made it back to his bed, and Remus sat in the chair next to his nightstand. "I think Dumbledore has the right idea. It's time to take matters into our own hands, if the Ministry isn't prepared to do what it takes to stop them, I am."

"Me too." James agreed.

"What about you Moony?" I asked looking at Remus who seemed to be thinking very hard.

"I suppose I'd be a coward not to considering what I am, I could be very useful to Dumbledore, and he will always have my loyalty. If it hadn't been for him I wouldn't be here talking to any of you."

"You're a wizard." James said firmly.

"Thank you Prongs, but let's not pretend to ignore the fact that having a werewolf that isn't on Lord Voldemort's side could be very useful to the Order of the Phoenix."

"Wormtail?" I asked looking at him. Out of all of us, Peter had been the only one who hadn't seemed completely on board with the joining the Order. I was just starting to wonder if asking him to come with us had been a mistake when he said.

"I may not be as brave as you guys." He said his voice trembling as he made his decision. "But I want to help."

"That's what we like to hear." James said grinning and Peter looked slightly more relieved. "But Sirius mate." James continued and I registered that he'd used my real name, not my nickname, something he rarely did in private. "I don't think I can keep this from Lily."

"I figured you were going to say that." I said frowning and sitting on my own bed. "I don't care if you tell Lily, but she can't say anything to Hallie."

"I can't just decide for her." He said cautiously.

"Why not?" I asked annoyed.

"Padfoot mate, Hallie is her best friend." Remus said in what was obviously supposed to be an appeasing tone that only angered me further. "She'll want to join, and you can't just expect Lily to keep it from her. Especially if Alice knows. It's not fair-"

"Not fair?" I asked furiously. "Who cares if it's fair? Hallie is my girlfriend not yours Remus, you don't get to make this decision."

"And neither do you." He said sharply. "It's Hallie's choice and Hallie's alone."

"Easy for you to say." I spat acidly, fear causing my rage to peak as I released it on him. "You never cared about her, and while you may not give a damn, I won't be the one who stands by as she walk straight into danger."

"Don't you dare say I don't care about Hallie." Remus said looking angry for the first time in memory. "She is my friend, and has been my friend since before she ever met you, which is why I'm standing up for what I think she would want! And she would want to know the truth! She'd want to be given the chance to fight!"

"And then what, what if she does fight, and something happens to her?" I asked bitterly.

I remembered what Lucius Malfoy had said to her.

 _"You'll be one of the first to go."_

There was a moment of silence as each of them stared at me and I put my head in my hands.

"How could you live with yourself knowing it was all your fault?" my voice broke. "How could you, if you knew you could have stopped it from happening, if you knew you could have done something?"

I closed my eyes, trying to empty my brain, only to have Hallie running through my thoughts. I couldn't stand the thought of loosing her, of letting her join the Order knowing all to well that one day she could be killed because of it.

"I'll ask Lily not to tell Hallie." James said quietly.

"Thank you." I mumbled.

"I can't promise anything, but maybe I can convince her to wait until you're ready to tell her." He continued. "Moony is right Padfoot, you can't hide this from Hallie forever, not if you're serious about her. You can't have secrets."

"Secrets protect people." I said looking up and directly at Remus. "You should know."

He shrugged.

"You can't always protect the people you care about. No matter how much you want to."


	26. Chapter 26

Hpov

After Valentine's Day, perfect Sirius disappeared again, this time for nearly a week. Usually it didn't bother me, but I was starting to get worried. Normally when Sirius kept his distance, it lasted for a day or two at most. It was like he couldn't help himself, he kept coming back, but as the week progressed he became more and more withdrawn spending more time with his friends, barely talking to me in class, and constantly seeming distracted.

But it wasn't just Sirius that seemed different. It was everyone. James, Lily, Alice, Remus, even Peter. There had been several occasions where they'd all been talking about something and suddenly stopped when I joined them. They all seemed to glance at Sirius anxiously whenever I was around, and whenever I was with Alice and Lily I under the impression that they were having many silent conversations with the expressions they gave each other. I had the feeling they all weren't telling me something, not just Sirius.

I dealt with the stress the way I always did, by burying myself in work. In March I was applying for and internship into the training program at St. Mungo's Hospital. They would receive my N.E.W.T scores over the summer but I was hoping to get an early acceptance, which meant as long as I passed all the required subjects, I had a guaranteed spot. So I wanted to make sure I logged in as many volunteer hours as possible in the hospital wing. I figured if Sirius needed some time to himself, I might as well use mine for something constructive.

Unfortunately, the patients coming to the Hospital Wing lately hadn't been very useful at all.

"What is it this time Dennis?" I asked in exasperation when I spotted a small third year sitting on one of the beds. He had short red hair and wide brown eyes that snapped onto me as I stepped into the hospital wing. For the past two weeks, ever since I'd treated him for a potion burn, he'd been popping up in the Hospital Wing every few days with a new malady.

"I think I have the flu." He said glancing over my shoulder nervously.

"Do you have a fever?"

"No."

"What about a cough?"

"No."

"Stuffy nose, sore throat?"

"No."

"Well then I don't see anything wrong with you Dennis." I said patiently.

He looked as if he wanted to say something, but paled slightly and glanced over my shoulder again.

"I know I'm not an expert." Said a familiar voice as a pair of strong arms wrapped around me from behind. "But in my opinion he's faking so he can to see the pretty assistant in the Hospital Wing." Sirius kissed my check and whispered. "I know I would."

"What are you doing here?" I asked him suspiciously as he let me go.

"I came to see you." He said innocently and then fixed Dennis with an amused expression. "Although I can see I might have to wait in line. You wouldn't be trying to flirt with my girlfriend Dennis would you?"

"No Sirius." Dennis said quickly his eyes wide in fear, confirming my long term suspicion that James and Sirius were legends to the students in the lower years.

"Then I suggest you leave." He said and Dennis quickly scrambled out of the hospital wing.

"What was that for?" I asked Sirius raising an eyebrow.

"He wasn't sick."

"Yes but you didn't have to scare him."

"I wanted to talk to you, in private."

"So we're talking again?" I asked him coolly and he sighed.

"I guess I deserved that." He said rubbing the back of his head.

"So are you ready to tell me why you were ignoring me?"

"I wasn't ignoring you." He muttered. "I was just figuring some stuff out."

"What kind of stuff?"

"Stuff I need to tell you."

"Which is?"

He hesitated on the verge of speech but was unable to do so apparently because when he opened his mouth, nothing came out.

"Still figuring it out I see." I said frowning.

"I guess so." He muttered.

"Well if you don't want to talk Sirius why are you here?" I asked him. I was too used to this behavior to be angry anymore, even annoyed. I was tired more than anything, and a little relieved to see that even if Sirius was struggling with what he wanted to say, at least he was trying. The silence it seemed, was over.

"I told you I wanted to see you."

"Here I am." I said resting my palms on the bed Dennis had just vacated and hoisting myself up, then turning around to look at him. The beds in the hospital wing were very high, and me sitting on this one made our faces almost level for once. I realized he was still in his quidditch gear, and figured he must have come straight after practice.

"Yes and I'll never get over the fact at how pretty you are." He muttered softly brushing a strand of hair out of my face and behind my ear. My breath caught as his eyes met mine and he smiled. "Brains and beauty. It almost just doesn't seem fair to the other girls in the school."

His face was very close to mine as again his arms made their way around my waist and I found it very hard to concentrate on anything but him.

"I'm not very concerned about other girls in the school." I said quietly.

"Neither am I." he said and it was true. Something had happened to Sirius recently, I wasn't sure what, but he'd seemed to lose interest in any other girls completely. They'd long since given up trying to convince him to cheat on me and were contenting themselves with giving me dirty looks in the corridors as I passed them but I didn't care. There was very little they could do to me now that I was sure that Sirius really was had meant what he said. He wanted this relationship to work and he had no intention of hurting me.

He gave me a thoughtful look.

"What?" I asked self-consciously.

"You know Hallie, you are the single most terrifying person I've ever met." He said quietly while pulling me closer to him and I wrapped my arms around his neck for support. I was on the edge of the mattress but he easily held me up.

"What do you mean by that?" I asked in what was almost a whisper unable to take my eyes off of him.

"Most girls when I met them, I couldn't imagine having them stick around for more than a couple days, and I've never met a girl I'd wanted for more than a week, until that day I met you in the hospital wing, almost three years ago. You were so different from everyone else, and it stuck with me. I didn't realize it at the time, but you are so much like me in a ways, and yet somehow, so very different. It intrigued me and ever since then I've wanted constantly to be around you and would do anything to get your attention even if I looked like an idiot."

"Which you did." I said grinning and he shrugged.

"I won't disagree with that."

"But why does that make me terrifying?" I asked softly.

"Because, since I've never wanted a girl to be around before, I've never been afraid to lose her."

"Are you afraid you're going to lose me?"

"More and more every day." He said quietly. "And that feeling to me is absolutely terrifying. The fact I could care about one person so much scares me, I've never had a person who's had such a drastic effect on me Hal. Not until you."

"Why do you think you're going to lose me?" I asked curiously. "Sirius I'm not going anywhere."

"You said it yourself I can't control everything."

"And you think what you can't control is going to take me away?" I asked him.

"Something like that." He muttered.

"Sirius would you just tell me what's bothering you?" I asked in frustration. "If I knew then maybe I-"

But I didn't finish because Sirius had cut me off with a kiss. I was shocked at first, but as he pulled me closer I relaxed and began to kiss back. It was normal at first, but soon I realized that he had no intention of breaking away. He pulled me closer again, pressing my body against him and I realized I was barely on the bed anymore, he was almost totally supporting my weight.

I redoubled my hold on him and he deepened the kiss. I felt another jolt of shock run through me as his fingertips brushed the skin under my shirt on my lower back. My body stiffened in surprise as that familiar feeling of electricity ran through me at his touch. Apparently he noticed this because he immediately he pulled away and let me go.

Having just barely been on the bed, I began to slip without his hold but he easily caught me and lifted me back on the bed.

"Sorry." He said quietly.

"It's ok." I said feeling a little breathless. I wanted to kiss him again but something was different in his eyes. It was as if something inside them had shut down. Distant Sirius was back.

"Look Hallie, I've got to go."

"Where?" I asked disappointed. I was almost done in the hospital wing, and he knew that. Usually we did homework together on weeknights.

"Just some stuff with the guys." He said evasively.

"Will I see you later tonight?"

"Probably not." He said avoiding my gaze.

"So you won't be in classes tomorrow either?" Sirius and his mates always skived off classes the days after they were causing trouble.

"No."

"Fine." I said although it wasn't. I slid off the bed and walked away from him towards the potions cabinet.

"Hallie don't do this." He said with a sigh.

"Do what?"

"Act all angry."

"I'm not angry, I'm busy." I said but it was a lie. I was very angry and my hands shook slightly as I put away bottles.

"You know I don't believe you."

"I don't care."

"You're a terrible liar."

"Well that makes one of us." I said glaring back at him.

"Hallie." He said and I saw that he'd crossed the room so that he was standing right in front of me and he put his hands on my shoulders. "There are reasons why I don't tell you everything. But I promise," he looked at me his gaze intense. "To you I never lie."

"Then why don't I believe you?" I asked coldly glaring right back.

He let go of me and I was startled to see hurt flash through his eyes, but it was immediately shut down.

"I'll talk to you tomorrow." He said his face blank and his tone void of emotion.

He turned and walked towards the dormitory door, and as I watched his figure walk through the door, an insane, but absolute ambition ran through me. I was going to figure out what he was hiding tonight, even if I had to follow him. I was sick of being left out, I was sick of being the only one kept in the dark.


	27. Chapter 27

Spov

"Can I see the map for a moment?" I asked James distractedly for what must have been the tenth time tonight.

"Again?" he asked frowning.

We were in the shrieking shack at twilight, waiting for the full moon to appear and for Remus to transform. Usually, these last few moments of human interaction with him were fun, filled with anticipation and excitement as we prepared for our next adventure. It was always a thrill trying to tame a werewolf. But now amusement had been eclipsed with worry. I didn't like the way Hallie had looked at me tonight, I could deal with anger, no matter how unpleasant it was to know she was upset with me. Anger meant that she wasn't going to do anything and I knew she would be safe. However tonight was different, she'd looked at me with outright defiance, like she'd look at one of her brothers when she was about to completely disregard one of their warnings and do what she wanted anyways. I'd found that look endearing at first, it had been nice to know that inside Hallie was a bit of a rebel, but again I could see why her brothers were always so worried about her. How did you protect someone who simply refused to listen?

"Why are you always checking it?" Peter asked as James handed me the folded parchment and I whispered.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

"He's looking for his girlfriend." Remus said smirking as, through a series of moving dots and crossing lines, the map came to life in front of me.

I wasn't sure when it had started, but it had become a sort of habit of mine to check for Hallie's name on the map every night before we went out for the full moon. I liked to know that she was safe, inside the castle, before any of the danger started, but tonight I was especially worried. My anxiety increased as my eyes scanned the parchment looking for the tiny black dot labeled Katie Benson, I was shocked to find that it wasn't on the map.

"That's weird." I said checking the library again. "K-Hallie's not on here."

I'd been so distracted looking for the name Katie, I'd almost slipped.

"Did you check the hospital wing?" Peter asked.

"Yeah."

"The dormitory?" James asked.

I nodded.

"What about the library?" Remus suggested.

"Of course. I don't see her anywhere."

"I'm sure she's on there somewhere, you're just missing her." James assured me. "It's not like she's got anywhere to go outside of the castle."

I nodded but frowned feeling a mounting sense of unease.

Hallie wouldn't leave the castle at night, not when I'd specifically told her not to. But I knew I was lying to myself if I thought I could control anything that girl did, especially with the way she'd looked at me earlier in the hospital wing.

"Relax mate," James said bracingly. "Hallie will be fine."

"Yeah," Remus agreed. "She's probably with Lily and Alice right now being forced to plan out Frank's wedding."

I didn't argue, mainly because I knew they wouldn't listen, even if I told them I'd seen Lily and Alice together in the common room and Hallie hadn't been with them. Instead I glanced at the map one last time, then tapped it with my wand and muttered.

"Mischief managed."

"Alright lads." James said glancing through a gap between two boards over the window. "This is it, the moon is rising. Everybody transform."

We all assumed our animal forms.

I watched in anticipation as the moonlight peaked through the broken windows and landed on Remus. There was a horrible, guttural growling sound and then a terrible scream as he began to transform.

Peter, who'd never gotten used to Remus's transformations, squeaked in terror and ran behind me his tail quivering. I couldn't help but feel pity as Remus continued to shriek and howl in agony as his body grew taller, more wolfish, and then collapsed.

When he picked himself up, there was no longer any trace of human left in Remus. He was a completely transformed werewolf. His big yellow eyes made its way to the window, spotted the moon and he let out a loud howl.

As a dog I joined in but was shocked when he suddenly stopped, his ears pointed, and his hair standing on end. Remus, or rather the werewolf had heard something, and judging form his expression it was near by.

I thought I heard someone saying my name and suddenly Remus's expression became hungry. He sniffed the air with a cruel interest and immediately took off. He threw himself repeatedly through the door, which seemed to be putting up a strong effort at keeping him contained, but eventually his strength won out. He burst through the door and ran down tunnel that let out in the castle grounds.

"What's going on?" James asked quickly, he'd transformed back into a human and I did the same.

"I don't know he's never done this before. He's never left without us." I said.

"We need to go after him." He said and before I could answer, a horrible, terrified scream ripped through the night air. One that made my heart stop, and my whole body turn cold as the world around me seemed to fade to black. I knew that voice, I would recognize it anywhere, and this was the last place I ever wanted to hear it.

"Hallie." I said in horror and then sprinted after Remus, already transformed.

Hpov

Getting out of the castle had been easy, I'd simply taken one of the short cuts Sirius had shown me that lead outside of the castle onto the grounds. But finding the boys, that was an entirely different obstacle altogether. I was lucky the sun had just barely set, the sky was still light enough for me to see without having to use my wand and draw attention to myself. I'd thought I saw them hanging around the Whomping Willow but upon closer inspection, all I'd seen were a couple of animals. I wasn't surprised to see the stag, I assumed it just lived off in the forest somewhere, but what had surprised me was the dog. Dogs weren't allowed at Hogwarts, and I didn't think any villagers would have allowed their pet to stray this far.

"What the hell?" I asked frowning.

The whomping willow, usually a very violent tree, had now gone stock still and the animals had disappeared.

Curiosity beating out my desire to find the boys, I jogged over to the tree to see where the animals had gone. My mouth fell open as I saw a small hole had appeared in the roots of the tree, just big enough for a person to crawl through.

"Ok Katie." I said for some reason resorting to my first name. "There's a hole in the roots of a murderous tree that you think both a stag and a dog who are apparently friends have walked through. What are the smart options here?"

I knew the smart options. The smart thing to do would be to go back to the castle, recognize defeat that I'd lost the boys and either make Sirius tell me what was going on or try and find them another time, but even though I knew that was the right thing to do, I found myself drawn to the hole in the tree. For some reason, I felt it held answers for me, answers that I desperately wanted. Before I knew it, I was standing next to it.

"This is stupid." I said looking into the dark hole and seeing in the dim light that it turned into a tunnel. "I have no idea where this is going, where I'll end up I should just turn back and-"

But I was cut off by a horrible creaking sound. My heart seemed to stop and I looked back in horror to see that above me the branches were quickly coming back to life. I ducked as a branch the size of a telephone pole came swiping at me, then jumped back as another crashed into the ground trying to flatten me. I tried to fight my way through branches that cut at my face and tore at my robes, but it was no use. Realizing I had no choice, I dove into the hole and then quickly began to crawl along the tunnel, hoping that wherever I ended up, would be a safer than what was waiting for me back there.

I lit my wand and continued to make my way down the dark, earthen tunnel until I reached a door. I frowned. It looked in terrible condition. The paint was chipped and there were long gouge marks that splintered the wood as they raked down the door in long parallel lines. I frowned and was reaching out towards the rusty doorknob when I stopped, hearing voices on the other side.

"Relax mate," I heard James say and he sounded like he was comforting someone. "Hallie will be fine."

"Yeah," It was Remus's voice this time. "She's probably with Lily and Alice right now being forced to plan out Frank's wedding."

I heard Sirius's voice mutter something but I couldn't make it out and suddenly James was speaking again, sounding excited.

"Alright lads. This is it, the moon is rising. Everybody transform."

There were sounds of scuffling and absurdly hooves against a wooden floor. And suddenly there was a bone-chilling scream. I felt my breath solidify in my lungs as the screaming continued, growing less human and more animal. There was a loud, 'thud' as something heavy hit the floor, and the next thing I heard froze my blood.

A loud howl came from behind the door and I knew there was only one thing that could make a sound like that.

"Werewolf." I whispered then clapped a hand over my mouth. The howling had stopped. Had it heard me? Why had it stopped?

Nothing made sense, what was going on here? I had no idea where I was, all I knew was that there was a werewolf on the other side of that door and there was a distinct possibility that it had just heard me. There was only two other times in my life I remembered feeling so scared. The first, when I'd lost my mother, and the second, when I thought I was going to loose Sirius as well. He was the one person I wanted to see right now more than anything, I wanted to know he was ok, and as I heard vicious monster like breathing behind the door found myself saying his name.

"Sirius?" I asked quietly.

Immediately, the sound of heavy paws running against the wooden floor and towards the door filled the tunnel. And suddenly, my body jumped back into action. I jinxed the door locked and started running. I heard the werewolf throwing itself against the door, it's frustrated snarls growing fainter the farther I ran. But it didn't last long.

Behind me the door exploded, the wood shattering as a fully transformed werewolf burst through the frame.

I continued to sprint down the tunnel but it was no use. No human could outrun a werewolf but I was determined to try. I made it around one corner when a searing pain erupted on my arm one of the werewolf's claws caught me and threw me into the tunnel walls. I fell to the ground and stared up in horror as the werewolf loomed over me, lit by the glowing tip of my wand, it's yellow eyes mad with hunger, and it's fangs bared.

I couldn't help it, I screamed.

Time seemed to slow down as the werewolf opened it's jaws and leaned down to me. Suddenly, I felt like I was a little kid again, pinned by one of my brothers as they laughed saying girls weren't tough enough to fight with boys.

'Get it together!' I yelled at myself. I tore my arm out from under his paw and pointed my wand under the werewolf's chest shouting.

"Reducto!"

The werewolf was blasted off of me and I scrambled to my feet. Ignoring the pain in my arm and the dizziness from my head colliding with the wall.

I shouted, "Impedimenta!" and took off running again.

I knew the spell wouldn't hold it for long, but I also knew that the end of the tunnel was near and I would take a murderous tree over a werewolf any day. I scrambled up the slope and through the hole well aware that the werewolf was hot on my heels. I sprinted towards the castle bobbing and ducking branches hearing the werewolf growling and slashing at them behind me. Just as I thought I was going to make it, I was caught from behind the knees. The tree branch lifted me off the ground and threw me out of its range, and I landed on the ground with an unforgiving force. I felt my head slam into the ground again and bright lights appeared in front of my eyes. I tried to sit up, but the world spun, and I couldn't think let alone utter a spell that might save me from the werewolf that had now managed to bite and slash his way through the branches.

It let out a victorious howl as it prowled closer to me, taking its time as it stalked its prey.

If this was going to happen, I wanted it to be quick. I closed my eyes, trying to ignore the pain, bracing myself for the attack. But it never came.

There was a protective growl, a yelp, and I opened my eyes to see the massive black dog from earlier had thrown itself on to the werewolf, attacking it mercilessly.

"What?" I groaned dazed and confused.

Suddenly the stag had immerged and it too charged after the werewolf. The stag ran after the werewolf as it made it's escape to the woods, but the dog stayed behind. It was bleeding, and breathing hard, but seemed to be ok as it made it's way to me and looked down at me with familiar, intense stormy gray eyes.

"Hallie!" The dog said in horror, but that was impossible, dogs didn't speak. At least, not English words. But it wasn't a dog above me any more.

"Sirius?" I asked confused my head throbbing painfully.

"Stay with me Hallie." He said resting a hand on either side of my face.

"The werewolf." I said confused.

"It's gone." He assured me clearly trying to sound comforting but his eyes were wide with panic. "Just stay awake alright?"

"My head hurts." I groaned.

"I know love." He said gently while picking me up then shouting. "Wormtail freeze the tree!"

The last thing I remembered was Peter's voice.

"Padfoot what happened?"

And then suddenly everything went black.

When I woke up, my head felt as if someone had taken a bat to it. I groaned rubbing the back of my head and started to sit up when I realized someone's arms were around me. My eyes flew open and I saw an exhausted looking Sirius staring at me his eyes filled with a mixture of terror, guilt, and intense relief.

"Oh thank god." He said pulling me into a tight hug and I winced as a sharp pain ran through my arm. He seemed to notice because he quickly let me go and asked.

"How are you feeling?"

"Awful." I muttered sitting up. "What happened?"

"You don't remember?" he asked frowning.

I tried to think but it made my brain hurt and my head swim. I felt sick to my stomach.

"Take it easy." Sirius said softly.

"Where are we?" I asked confused. We were in the middle of an utterly destroyed room that I had never seen before. The furniture was smashed, long scratches tore at the wall, splintering the wood, disintegrating the plaster, and chipping the paint. The windows were boarded up, and any glass had long since been smashed. Dust covered the floor and I realized that I was in a large bed.

"What happened?" I asked again. Disconnected images were flashing through my mind. Fangs, a blood chilling howl, and cruel yellow eyes, inhuman eyes. I felt a sharp stinging on my arm again and looked down to see a piece of torn shirt turned into a bandage on what felt like a long but shallow cut on the outside of my arm that ran from my shoulder to my elbow. Further investigation revealed that it was Sirius's shirt. "Why do I feel like I've been attacked?"

"You were." He said quietly.

"By what?"

He didn't answer.

"Sirius what's going on?" I asked feeling frustration building in me. I felt as if my brain were underwater, causing all of my thoughts to be slow, hazy, and dim. I couldn't remember anything that had happened to me, but these startling images kept flashing through my mind. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't piece them together. I could feel my brain furiously trying to work, it seemed like it should be so simple but for some reason it just refused. The pain continued only getting worse and I felt like my brain was too big for my skull. I clamped my hands over my head and was horrified to find that in the constant back in forth of anger and frustration with myself, I felt tears form in my eyes. I shut them quickly refusing to cry in front of Sirius.

"Hallie its ok." He said gently. "You've probably got a concussion, you hit your head pretty hard. Try to calm down alright? Your brain is just freaking out right now."

"But why? Sirius what happened?" More tears filled my eyes this time they fell. I knew I had no control over it now, somewhere in the back of my brain I knew that a symptom of concussions was being easily upset and frustrated but that didn't help me now.

The effect of a few tears on Sirius was simply astounding. Something behind his eyes seemed to break, and he was speaking quickly now.

"Hallie, don't cry." He said his eyes going wide.

"Then tell me what's going on!" I almost shouted.

He looked at me for a solid minute, before he sighed.

"We're in the shrieking shack." He said quietly refusing to look at me.

"The haunted house?" I asked my eyes going wide.

"It's not haunted." He said shaking his head. "All the noises the villagers hear are from a werewolf, the same one that attacked you tonight."

"A werewolf?" I asked in shock, my thought's reeling. "All this time, you've been running around with a werewolf."

He nodded.

"And what about the dog?" I asked quickly my head continuing to spin.

He paused a full minute before responding apparently mentally preparing himself before what he was going to say next.

"The dog was me." He said glancing up at me as if he were trying to gauge my reaction. "I'm an Animagus."


	28. Chapter 28

Spov

Hallie didn't speak as I explained literally everything and I wondered if it was because it was too much effort due to the concussion, or she was just that shocked. Soon I found myself trapped in an avalanche of confessions. From the Marauder's Map to our monthly transformations, it all seemed to be falling out of me one thing after another, and it took a surprisingly long amount of time for me to tell her everything. Until this point, I hadn't even realized how much I'd been keeping from her.

"So Remus is a werewolf." She said quietly after what felt like hours and I'd finally stopped talking. She didn't look, angry, or upset. In fact, she didn't even look scared. Her expression was merely thoughtful. "That explains a lot." She conceded. "I could see why you wouldn't want to tell me."

"So that's it?" I asked suspiciously. "You're not angry?"

I had expected a reaction that was much more severe, but even though she didn't seem upset at all, I still found it a bit hard to look at her. Guilt seemed to be tearing through me destroying me from the inside out. This was all my fault, I knew it, didn't she get that?

"I don't know what to feel." She said closing her eyes and leaning against the headboard of the bed. "To be perfectly honest Sirius, if you were anyone else I wouldn't believe you. The Animagus process is obscenely difficult and you're telling me you managed it at 15? But I saw it for myself, and again all this," she said gesturing to the room at random her eyes still closed. "explains a lot. I guess if this was before the fact, and you told me you were trying to do it now I would be worried, I might have even thought you were insane, but you've already done it so," she shrugged. "What's the point in being angry about it now? Wasted energy."

For the first time since I'd started talking I looked directly at her. I'd been pacing as I'd explained, waiting for the explosion of anger that had never come. She opened her eyes and she truly didn't seem angry. I finally felt comfortable enough to sit next to her on the bed again. While still guilty, I felt less tense.

"Are you ok?" I asked her for what must have been the millionth time tonight.

"I've been better." She admitted. "But I'll be ok."

James had stopped by about an hour ago with a few potions to help with her arm and her headache, after of course he was sure that Remus was in the woods far away from both the castle and the village. He'd left to find Peter, who'd vanished after he frozen the tree which allowed me to bring Hallie back to the shrieking shack.

"Why did you follow us?" I asked in frustration.

"Well first of all, I followed a dog, not you." She said sounding amused. "And second, you know why."

"I told you not to wander around at night without me. It's dangerous."

"You didn't exactly mention werewolves Sirius." She pointed out. She sounded extremely tired, but again, her tone suggested she found this whole situation rather funny.

"I didn't think I'd have to."

"Why not?"

"Because unlike you, most people, when you tell them not to do something because it's dangerous, don't do it." I said trying valiantly to keep my temper under control. "Why do you always do this Hal? It's the same with your brothers as it is with me, it's like you can't resist doing crazy things. The second someone tells you something, the exact opposite is what you want to do."

"It's just who I am Sirius," she said quietly. "I've tried to fight it ever since I've gotten to Hogwarts but I'm tired of it. I realized that ever since I've been with you."

"If you haven't noticed Hallie, being reckless and close to me isn't a very good combination. There are things only I know about, and can protect you from, things that could hurt you."

"Well how was I supposed to know that?" she asked raising an eyebrow.

"I don't know." I admitted. "But you didn't trust me enough to listen."

"Well whose fault is that Sirius?" she asked. "All you had to do was tell me."

"I shouldn't have had to!" I insisted. "Why couldn't you just believe me?"

She looked at me incredulously, as if I were insisting the moon was actually made of marshmallow and refusing to listen to reason.

"Believe you?" she asked plainly trying not to laugh. "Sirius, you didn't give me anything to believe. How would you like it if I disappeared all the time? Told you nothing about what I was doing or where I was going, all you knew was that I was with my friends and they refused to tell you anything either. Would you like that?"

"No." I admitted.

"Would you think that was me with your best interests at heart?"

"No."

"Exactly."

"But Hallie I was trying to protect you."

"How was I supposed to know?" she repeated and there was an ugly moment of silence between us in which I looked away. I wanted to say something sarcastic but resisted the temptation, this was already close enough to becoming a fight, I didn't need to push it that much farther. "Look Sirius, if you wanted a girlfriend who does everything you say, and is willing to sit around letting you disappear on her, then you've picked the wrong person. I can't do that, I can't be that for you."

"I think I picked the right one." I said looking at her.

"Then no more secrets." She said evenly.

"Alright." I said agreed. "No more secrets."

"You promise?"

"I promise."

She smiled and I leaned in to kiss her, when suddenly something popped up into the back of my mind, one last very big secret that was the one I'd wanted to hide from her most out of everything I'd kept from her.

"Hallie." I said quietly just before our lips touched, knowing if I didn't say it now, I never would. Tonight had been a nightmare and all I wanted to do right now was hold her, and kiss her until I forgot about anything and everything in existence but her, but one good thing had come out of it. I now knew the utter terror that accompanied the realization that I might loose her, and it had given me a reason to tell her everything, including this final secret, no matter how much I didn't want to. But I knew if she found out and I hadn't told her it would be over between us, and I couldn't live with myself if I'd let that happen just like I couldn't if Remus's attack had been successful.

"Yeah?" she asked softly.

"There's one more thing I need to tell you." I said backing away from her and she looked worried. "And it's pretty big."

"What is it?" she asked her tone dangerous and instantly I knew that she was expecting the worst. Probably involving another girl.

"It's not what you're thinking." I said quickly and her expression softened slightly, she now looked merely curious. I tried to find the right words to explain what I wanted to tell her, but found myself drawing a blank so I started how Frank had started with us. "Have you been reading the papers lately?"

"Yeah of course." She said frowning. "Why?"

"So then you've been noticing all the weird stories popping up right? About missing people turning up dead?"

"I'm going to kill Alice." She said her expression darkening.

"What?" I asked completely thrown by her reaction.

"She told you about that group Franks in didn't she? You're not seriously thinking of starting something like that-"

"It's not Alice's fault. In fact, if you've heard about it from her I reckon she doesn't know much more about it than you." I said quickly as I saw fury flash into her eyes. "But I'm not thinking about it Hallie, I've already joined."

"What?" she whispered her eyes going wide. "You can't be serious."

"I am."

And then the reaction I'd been expecting earlier happened. Hallie nearly exploded with rage.

"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?" she shouted looking so angry I backed away. "SIRIUS BLACK, WHAT IN THE NAME OF MERLIN'S TEA KETTLE IS WRONG WITH YOU!"

"Hallie calm down." I said nervously.

"I WILL NOT CALM DOWN!" she continued to shout over me.

"It's not that big of a deal-"

"THIS IS A HUGE DEAL IF YOU THINK I'M GOING TO LET YOU GET YOURSELF KILLED-"

"Silencio." I muttered pointing my wand at her, and her voice cut out.

If looks could kill, Hallie's expression would have been just as effective as the Avada Kedavra.

"Hallie I'm sorry." I said quickly. "But you need to give me a chance to explain."

I never got that chance. With a quick flick of her wand, I was pulled of the bed by an invisible force and left dangling upside down in the air and was forced to look at her inverted smirk as the blood rushed to my head. How could I have forgotten? Hallie had been one of the best in our year at nonverbal spells.

"Fine I'll take the silencing charm off, just let me down." I said.

She flicked her wand again and I came crashing back down onto the bed.

"Ok Hallie." I said glancing at her cautiously. "I'm going to take the spell off, but just give me a chance to explain alright?"

She folded her arms over her chest and glared at me. She still looked angry but I knew that expression was the physical representation of one single word.

Fine.

I released the silencing charm.

"Well?" she asked coldly.

"Where should I start?"

"How about at the beginning."

"Alright. When you, Lily, and Alice wandered off at the Three Broomsticks, Frank had a talk with us. He said that there was a group dedicated to stop all these terrible things from happening and if we were interested we'd be able to join."

Over the next ten minutes I continued to explain about the meeting with Dumbledore, what the order of the Phoenix was, and what they did. Her mood didn't seem to improve. In fact, it seemed the longer I spoke, the worst it got.

"Who else knows about this?" she asked her voice so calm it was unnerving.

"So far just James, Peter, and Remus." I admitted. "Although James told Lily. And if Frank and Alice are really going to get married she'll probably know more about it soon."

"And they're all on board with it?" she asked.

"Yeah." I said grinning. "It should be fun, just like here at Hogwarts. Fighting the authority breaking the rules. I guess some things never change."

"Sirius this isn't a game!" she said stiffly. "You can't go around playing rebel for the rest of your life."

"I know it's not a game Hallie." I said my smile fading. "I know just how dangerous this is, in fact, probably more than anyone considering I grew up with the manics we're trying to stop! But do you really expect me to just stand aside and let the people I care about face them alone? Can you really see me staying out of this fight?"

"And what about the people who care about you?" she asked bitterly. "What about me? Have you ever considered how I felt?"

"You're the one I've been thinking about the most." I admitted quietly not looking at her.

"Clearly not or else you would have asked me."

"I'm telling you now aren't I?" I asked looking back at her. "But no Hallie I'm not going to ask for your permission about this. This is what I want to do."

"But why?"

"Because of you!" I said and she looked shocked. "These people," I continued shaking my head. "I grew up with them I know how they think, and they're not going to stop until they get what they want, and what they want is to get rid of muggleborns. I'm not going to sit back and watch them take you away from me, not when I could be doing something to make this world a safer place for you."

"Then I'm joining too," she said firmly.

"Absolutely not."

"You can't tell me what to do." She said angrily. "And if you think I'm going to let you, or any of my friends risk their lives while I sit back and do nothing then you are completely delusional."

"Hallie I'm begging you." I said desperately. "Don't do this. Please. For me."

She looked at me, long and hard, and I could see her answer in her expression long before she said it.

"No." she said stubbornly. "I'm not going to let you risk your life and not be there to back you up."

"I'll have back up." I said. "Remus, Peter, and James."

"And what good are they to you if you get hurt?" she asked. "They couldn't help you when you got slashed by a werewolf. Who was the one you had to turn to?"

I looked at her and she looked determinedly back. Never before had I seen Hallie look so stubborn, and I realized that for what was quiet possibly the first time in my life, someone was determined to protect me.

"You're not going to let this go are you?" I asked her softly.

"Would you?" She asked with a glare.

"No."

"Then there's your answer."


	29. Chapter 29

Hpov

Sirius wanted me to go to the hospital wing the next morning, but agreed to let me tend to my injuries on my own when I used his own argument that Madam Pomfrey would probably recognize injuries from a werewolf and wonder why I was wondering out on the castle grounds last night.

We made it back to the common room at about five in the morning, and while I expected it to be empty, the second I stepped through the portrait hole, I was attacked.

"Hallie oh my god we were so worried!" Lily cried as she and Alice tackled me into a hug. The second they spotted Sirius, they dropped me and tackled him into a hug as well.

"You saved her!" Alice said tears of relief streaming down her face.

"You know what happened?" I asked in shock.

"James told us everything." Lily said letting go of Sirius and then turning back to me. "Which reminds me." She smacked my shoulder.

"Ow Lily what the hell?" I asked annoyed.

"That's what you get for chasing around werewolves during the full moon!" she said scathingly. "Do you know what could have happened to you? You could have DIED you impulsive little-"

"Lily." Sirius said in an appeasing tone. "I think Hallie's had enough injuries for one life time."

"That's for sure." I muttered glowering at her then yawning. "Blimey I'm tired."

"You should probably get some sleep." Alice suggested. "Both of you. Don't worry about classes we'll get your stuff for you."

"Thanks." I said gratefully. I was about to say good bye to Sirius and head up to my dormitory when I spotted James and Peter walking down from the boy's dormitory. "Where's Remus?" I asked frowning.

"He's still in the dormitory." James replied.

"Is he ok?" I asked in concern, Sirius had had some nasty cuts I'd healed from their fight and I could only imagine what injuries he must have sustained.

"Yeah he's fine." Peter said.

"Can I talk to him?"

"He doesn't want to talk to anyone right now." James said sadly.

"Why?" I asked.

"He feels guilty." Peter said and when I continued to look confused, James explained.

"About attacking you."

"That's ridiculous." I said in shock. "There was nothing he could do about it."

"That's what we've been trying to tell him." James sighed. "But he won't listen."

"I'll talk to him." I said.

"Hallie I don't think-" Peter started but Sirius cut him off.

"Don't bother Peter, she won't listen. C'mon Hal I'll take you up."

He took my hand and we walked together up towards the boy's dormitory, up the stairs, and through the door marked 'Seventh Years.'

"Go away James." Remus said. He was laying on his bed, facing away from the door.

Early morning sunlight was just starting to stream through the windows as I walked over to his bed.

"It's not James." I said and he turned.

"Hallie?" he asked in disbelief, his eyes were wide and red, almost as if he'd been trying not to cry. Sirius let go of my hand as I sat on the edge of his bed.

"What are you doing here?"

"I came to make sure you were ok." He looked awful, not just tired but sick. I could tell from the way he was sitting that I was right, he had injuries, painful ones, but I had a feeling he'd refused to get them healed. From his expression I knew he thought he needed to be punished.

"Why?"

"Because you're mates." Sirius said in exasperation. "That's what mates do."

"Hallie, you don't have to do this." Remus said shaking his head. "I understand if you never want to talk to me again."

"Don't be thick Remus." I said frowning. "You're my friend."

"I attacked you."

"It wasn't your fault. Besides I hexed you, twice, so we're even."

"I could have KILLED you." He said miserably.

"But you didn't." I pointed out.

"Only because Sirius was there." He muttered refusing to look Sirius in the eyes. "If he hadn't saved you…"

"But he did."

"How you can be so calm?" He asked bitterly. "What I did, it was unforgivable."

"Remus it was my fault I was out there, not yours. There's nothing to forgive."

"And what about you?" he said looking up at Sirius. "Have you forgiven me?"

"Mate I was never angry." He said shaking his head. "Like Hallie said, it's not your fault Hallie was out there last night, in fact, it was mostly mine. I was sure she was going to try something, I should have just told her what was going on."

"But you were my keeping my secret." He insisted.

"Would you really have cared if I told her? If I'd asked you?" he asked.

Remus looked at me, clearly searching for any judgment in my expression, looking for anger, or fear. I smiled and gave him a hug.

"I guess not." He muttered hugging me back.

"Remus we're friends." I said quietly. "Nothing is going to change that."

"You know when I first came to Hogwarts, if anyone told me I would have this many friends who knew what I was, and still wanted to know me after what I'd done, I wouldn't have believed them."

"Well believe it because you do." I said smiling and letting him go.

I pretended not to notice as he wiped his eyes and then he looked back at Sirius.

"Where are Peter and James?" he asked.

"Downstairs with the girls. I think they're all going to go to breakfast together if you want anything."

"I think I'll do that." He said grinning weakly looking much happier all of the sudden. "Are you guys coming?"

"No." I said yawning. "I'm going to bed."

"Me too." Sirius agreed.

"Alright I'll see you two later then." He said standing up and walking towards the dormitory door. He looked over his shoulder one last time at us, but didn't say anything, then walked down the steps towards the common room.

It suddenly dawned on me that Sirius and I were now the only two left in his dormitory. I wasn't sure why that meant anything to me, but suddenly I felt wide-awake now that I realized we were alone.

"I guess I should get back to my dormitory." I said hesitantly but I didn't like the idea of it. Images of last night kept flashing through my mind now that it had time to slow down and actually process what had happened. I'd been so busy fixing my injuries, taking in everything Sirius had said, and trying to get into the castle unseen, that the fact that I had been attacked by a werewolf hadn't really registered until now. And now that I had time to dwell on it, the whole experience had been absolutely terrifying.

"You know you don't have to go." Sirius said hesitantly looking at me cautiously as if he were gauging my reaction. "You could stay here with me, if you want."

I hesitated.

"As in, sleep in your bed, with you?" I asked.

He nodded.

"Sirius I'm not-"

"I won't try anything I swear." He said quickly. "It's just I'm still a little freaked out after last night and I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't sleep better knowing you were with me."

I looked at him and could see that he was telling the truth, and as more memories came rushing to me from last night, I realized just how exhausted I was, and that I didn't want to sleep alone either.

"Alright." I said tiredly and he looked intensely relieved.

We made our way to his bed, neither of us bothering to change our torn clothes. I kicked off my shoes and fell onto the blankets and immediately felt as if my body was sinking into the mattress. Sirius laid down facing me, wrapped his arms protectively around my waist and I closed my eyes.

Instantly, I began to fall asleep. Sirius was saying something to me but already his voice was so far away.

"Hmmm?" I asked sleepily and I heard him chuckle.

"Nothing Hallie." He whispered and the last thing I remembered was him kissing my forehead and saying softly. "Sweet dreams love."

Spov

After the incident with Remus's transformation, the year seemed to be speeding past me faster and more recklessly than the Night Bus skidding on a patch of ice.

Both Lily and Hallie had joined the Order of the Phoenix, Alice, who'd agreed with Frank to wait and see if she'd been accepted into the auror program until she'd made her decision, had yet to join, but we all knew she would by the end of the summer, her auror career withstanding or not.

Speaking of careers, Hallie had sent off her application to St. Mungo's in March for their trainee program. That night had not been very fun. She'd been stressed and snappish up until the point where she'd actually sent the letter, after which she seemed much more relaxed.

I had to admit, it was nice having a single girlfriend I could tell everything to. I actually liked it when she told me to be careful each time we went out during the full moon, and when her family invited me to stay with them over the Easter Holiday. Over the break, I'd slipped a few times and called Hallie Katie, just because I heard everyone else saying it so much. To my surprise she hadn't been angry. She seemed much happier these days, more out going and impulsive like her real self at home and I realized she'd meant it when she'd said she was tired of fighting who she really was. I'd sometimes taken to calling her Katie when we were alone, and she didn't seem to mind, in fact I think she rather liked it. It was something between just the two of us, our own secret none of the others knew.

"Blimey." Hallie said frowning and looking over her textbook as a boy stormed out of the castle and in our direction. "Peter looks upset."

We were outside enjoying the fine mid May weather, studying for our upcoming N.E.W.T. exams. Well, Remus and the girls were studying. James and I were more talking really with textbooks open on our laps.

"Yeah, I think things between him and Valerie have gone completely south." Remus muttered.

"They hadn't already?" James asked in shock.

"I thought they had." Alice muttered while Lily nodded in agreement.

"Well that had that one date on Valentine's but I didn't think it went that well." Remus continued and I realized I'd been so preoccupied with my own relationship, I hadn't given Valerie a second thought in months, let alone her relationship with Peter. "I've seen them together a few times after that, but it never looked like they were actually together."

"He looks pretty unhappy though." Lily said frowning. "I wouldn't bring it up unless he wants to talk about it."

"Hey Wormtail." James said grinning as Peter joined us. Now that the girls knew about Remus, there was no point in hiding our nicknames from them, or anything else really. So we now used them openly around Hallie, Lily, and Alice. "What's up?"

"Nothing." He said rather moodily but he didn't elaborate. "What are you lot up to?"

"Studying." I said with a grin.

"Don't listen to him." Hallie said rolling her eyes, and I was momentarily distracted when she tossed her hair over her shoulder not bothering to look up form her page. Sometimes I wondered if she even registered how greatly little actions like that caught my attention. "We're studying. They're talking about Gryffindor's chances this weekend."

"What for quidditch?" he asked and she nodded.

"We're going to destroy Ravenclaw." James said excitedly. "And even if we don't win, which we are, they'd still have to score four hundred and ninety points to beat us for the cup."

"That's a tall order," said Alice who liked quidditch just as much as we did. "Even if they do catch the snitch."

"I know, I might not even play this weekend." James said in mock concern. "You know, just to give them a fighting chance."

"Does that mean I don't have to give you a kiss for good luck on Saturday." Lily said smirking and James grinned at his girlfriend.

"How about you give me one now."

"No. No." Remus said shaking his head. "Prongs no canoodling. Lily was just about to tell me how she memorizes the use of Dragon's blood."

"Aw can't we stop studying?" James groaned.

"No." The girls and Remus replied in unison.

"Besides why are you complaining? You haven't even been doing anything." Alice pointed out.

"It's a nice day." I said looking up at the sunlight that was poking between the leaves of the tree we were sitting under. "There could be much better things we could be doing."

"Like flying." James said.

"Exactly." I said trying to ignore the fact that flying had been the last thing that was on my mind. The light had caught in Hallie's hair and I couldn't help but remember the first time she and I had been alone together walking in the forbidden forest.

"Then go do it." Remus said. "And stop distracting us."

I looked at Hallie who'd gone back to her textbook and clearly wasn't resurfacing anytime soon, then glanced at James who'd obviously made the same conclusion about his girlfriend.

"I think the pitch is open if you want to practice." He said eagerly.

"Sounds good to me." I said grinning.

"Have fun." Hallie muttered distractedly as she underlined something in her book. But she smiled as I dragged her into my lap and gave me a kiss.

"See you Hal." I whispered softly so that only she could hear and her smile grew.

"See you Sirius." She said sliding off my lap and going back to her book.

"Shall we?" James asked as I stood.

I nodded and we both began walking towards the broom shed where our brooms were stored along with extra quidditch supplies.

We'd made it about halfway there when I noticed a tall blonde figure staring at me from about fifty feet away.

"That's a little creepy." I muttered as Valerie watched James and I walk passed her and her friends.

"Yeah mate, I think you dating Hallie for this long has caused her to go round the twist a little." James said frowning. "I'd watch out for her if I were you."

"What can she do?" I asked looking back at him and he shrugged.

"Don't ask me to try and understand the female mind Padfoot, for it is a task I will never accomplish nor any man should. But if there is one thing I've learned from watching you date so many people, is that you should never underestimate the lengths a desperate girl will go to, to get what she wants."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying be careful what you drink mate." He said significantly. "Lest you find something a little less harmless than pumpkin juice in your goblet."


	30. Chapter 30

Hpov

Over the next week there was only one topic of conversation between the corridors as the weekend approached. The quidditch cup. If Gryffindor won this year, James and Sirius would have a perfect record of winning the cup each year they were on the team.

"That's what we like to see." James said happily as Lily, Alice, and I sat down at the Gryffindor table next to the Marauders. "Pretty ladies in red and gold."

We were all wearing Gryffindor colors. Seeing as it was May and it was too hot for hats and scarves, we'd dashed red and gold paint on our cheeks and Lily and I had even made shirts that matched the Gryffindor quidditch robes. Hers with James's name and number on the back, mine with Sirius's. Alice was wearing Frank's old keeper robes, and she'd even transfigured the tips of her hair to fade from red to gold.

"Wish me luck." Sirius said smiling charismatically down at me and I felt my heart skip a beat.

"Do me a favor will you?" I asked as a couple of girls walked by, glanced at Sirius and giggled when he noticed them. "Try not to make too many girls fall in love with you out there today."

"What about just one?" he asked his eyes glittering mischievously and I blushed. While Sirius and I had been dating for a little over five months now, neither of us had actually said I love you yet.

I'd never been in that many relationships before, and my brothers had made sure they never lasted, and Sirius had been in so many that they didn't mean anything, I felt like neither of us were really sure when to say it, or what it even felt like. Although recently, I was sure now I knew, but still I was afraid to say it. Once it was out, I couldn't take it back and what if Sirius didn't feel the same way? Would that totally freak him out? And if so, would he pull away?

It has been so long since Sirius had been distant, and I didn't think I could go through that again, so I refrained from saying it. As cowardly as it sounds, I was too afraid of what might happen if I did.

"Hallie," Sirius said and I jumped.

"What?" I asked realizing I had been lost in thought.

"I said James and I have to go now, we're meeting the rest of the team in the changing rooms."

"Oh." I said shaking my head slightly and looking back at him. "Alright. Good luck."

"I don't need luck." He said arrogantly and I resisted the temptation to role my eyes, but his expression softened. "I'm already the luckiest boy in the school I have you."

I blushed again and he kissed me before setting off with James out of the Great Hall leaving Remus and Peter with us.

"Well let's eat quickly and make sure we get good seats." Alice, who was a die hard quidditch fan, said excitedly.

I grinned and reached for the plate of toast in front of me, feeling very confident for some unexplained reason. Things had been going very well lately. I'd made it past the first round of admissions for the internship at St. Mungo's, Gryffindor was in the lead for both the House and Quidditch cup, my relationship was running surprisingly smooth, and I felt pretty good about my classes and the up coming exams. If the year ended like this, I was willing to think that when I was forced to step out into the real world I'd feel unstoppable. As of right now, I couldn't think of anything that could possibly go wrong.

Spov

"Feels good to be a champion doesn't it mate?" James shouted over the raucous cheers in the common room. We were standing on one of the tables holding up the quidditch cup, as all around us people clapped, cheered, and toasted the two heroes of the Gryffindor quidditch team.

"Fourth time in a row mate!" I yelled over the party.

Someone turned on the radio in the corner and music filled the common room as Remus and Peter stepped through the portrait hole carrying drinks and food from both Hogsmead and the kitchens. Some people rushed towards them, but the majority still crowded around us.

I grinned when I spotted Hallie and dragged her onto the table with us and pulled her into a kiss.

Wolf whistles erupted around the room and several people cheered again. I didn't want to, but I eventually let her go and she grinned up at me.

"So Mr. Quidditch hero." She said amused. "What are you going to do now that you have a perfect record?"

"I'm going to grab a drink." I said handing James the trophy, hopping off the table, then offering Hallie a hand to help her down. "Grab my girlfriend, and enjoy the attention of being generally adored."

"Adored is right." She said rolling her eyes as I slid an arm around her waist and led her through the people in the crowd all of whom were complimenting me on my playing. "If there was ever a time you could start your own religion I think it would be now."

"Well if there was a church of Sirius Black," I said grinning. "I know who the Goddess would be."

She smiled and I grabbed a glass of fire whiskey for me and a pumpkin juice for her from the low bookshelf on the wall that was now doubling as a drinks table.

"Cheers." She said knocking her glass into mine and we both took a drink.

"So." I said grinning in what I hoped would be a charismatic smile and not the idiotic grin I often wore when she was around. "You're not going to curse me again if I drink to much of this and try to kiss you again right?"

"We'll see." She said amused and I laughed.

We took seats next to the fire and I rested my drink on the mini table next to the couch.

We ended up talking to a few of my fellow teammates for a while. I wanted to talk to James, but he'd long since disappeared with Lily. A few people came up to us asking for blow by blow recaps of the match but I managed to get rid of them pretty quickly. I was just starting to think that maybe James had had the right idea by leaving this party for some alone time with his girlfriend, when she appeared.

"Sorry Sirius can I borrow Hallie for a bit?" she asked apologetically.

"What's wrong?" Hallie asked frowning.

"I think Alice has had a little too much to drink. She's upstairs in the dormitory absolutely freaking out about the upcoming wedding."

"I see." Hallie said and then she glanced at me.

"Go calm her down." I said removing my arm from around her shoulders. "I'll be waiting here when you get back."

"Alright." She said giving me a swift smile then quickly following Lily towards the staircase that would lead towards the girls dormitory. As their figures disappeared, I caught a glance of Valerie and quickly checked my glass like James had suggested.

There didn't seem to be anything wrong with it, so I took another sip and caught the smell of roses and drank more. It reminded me of Hallie but when I looked over my shoulder again, she wasn't there.

"I'd better slow down on this stuff." I said setting the glass down and realizing I had almost emptied it. That was weird. I didn't remember drinking that much, but now the glass was nearly empty. It had left a sweet after taste, almost too sweet. Definitely too sweet for fire whiskey. A strange light sensation was going through me, and my brain seemed to be clouding with a warm fog that numbed all suspicion and quieted most of my thoughts making them slow and sluggish. I felt a blissful happiness that seemed to stem from nothingness. The world around me suddenly seemed to be shimmering and I felt dizzy.

"Sirius? Are you ok?" I looked up from my glass and blinked. Hallie was in front of me, but, was that Hallie? Her image seemed to be flickering but but who else could it be? What was wrong with me?

"Yeah." I said rubbing my forehead feeling extremely confused but my suspicions were instantly being relaxed by that blissful happiness. Why was I worried? Just relax, this was Hallie.

"Did you change?" I asked in surprise.

"What?"

"Your clothes." I said. It wasn't unusual for Hallie to switch to muggle clothes for the weekend, but I'd never seen her dress like this at school. She was wearing a tight black tanktop, a short dark skirt, and high boots. Her long hair had been curled slightly at the ends and she wore just enough dark eyeliner to make her blue eyes stand out brighter than ever. With a jolt I realized she looked just like she had for the AC/DC concert, and now, just like I felt back then, I wasn't sure I'd be able to contain myself around her.

"Oh." She said confused but then decided to go with it. "Do you like it?" she asked grinning.

I nodded feeling to stunned to speak at first but another question popped into my head.

"I thought you were with Lily?"

"I left." She said shrugging in a tone that was not familiar to me coming form her.

I frowned. It wasn't like Hallie to simply leave her friends, especially if it was true and Alice was having some sort of pre-wedding melt down. But again that suspicion was eased as she smiled and continued.

"I wanted to see you."

I couldn't quite place her expression as she rounded the corner of the couch and sat directly in my lap, it was ambitious, almost as if she had something to prove but I stopped caring the second her lips touched mine.

Around us a few people started to whisper but I didn't care. What was it to them if I kissed my girlfriend? Not ten minutes ago they'd all been cheering.

When we broke apart, she fixed me with that same ambitious gaze and I felt something stir in the back of my mind. Something wasn't right, Hallie never looked at me like this.

"Sirius?" she asked.

"What?" I said uncertainly.

"You realize everyone is in the common room right now right?" she said with a sexy smile and wrapping her arms around my neck.

"Yeah."

"Which mean the dormitories are empty…" she continued suggestively running her fingers up the back of my neck and then through my hair.

"Sirius mate, what are you doing?" I looked up to see James crossing the room looking furious and Hallie quickly stood while taking my hand and pulled me to my feet. I felt dizzy but the tone of James's voice seemed to be forcing the fog in my brain back. It almost felt like my mind was in a state of tug of war between the dreamy feeling of unconcern, and a feeling that something was very, very wrong.

"Let's go." She said quickly dragging me towards the dorm. I followed her still confused but James continued after us.

"Sirius, have you gone mental?" he asked me still looking angry. "Don't do this."

"It's his choice James." Hallie snapped in an uncharacteristically ugly tone.

"Mate, think about this," James said jerkily. "What about Hallie?"

"She's right here." I said confused and his eyes went wide. Realization seemed to be dawning on him.

"Who do you think you're looking at?" he asked.

"My girlfriend." I said frowning. "James what's a matter with you?"

But James had already run off muttering something about an antidote and Hallie, who looked anxious, continued to drag me towards the boys' dormitory.

Several people turned and whispered as we passed including a horrified looking Peter and I again the feeling that something wasn't right was battling this dream like state of mind.

She didn't seem to care though, in fact she seemed to be rather enjoying the attention, but soon we'd made it up the stairs and walked through the door marked 'seventh years'.

The second we were through the door her lips crashed into mine, she grabbed the front of my shirt and pulled me to my bed and we fell back on the blankets.

"Hallie wait." I said breaking away from her as she went for my shirt. Everything was going so fast, my head was spinning. What had gotten into her? I was totally confused, and still, something felt wrong.

"What?" she asked.

"It's just are you sure about this?" I asked quietly looking into her eyes. Something strange was going on the back of my head again, just a twinge of hesitation that was battling the clouded sensation that was pulling me to her. There was something about her that seemed… different. I looked at her but I couldn't figure out what it was. This was Hallie. Those were undoubtedly her eyes, weren't they?

"You don't want to?" she asked incredulously.

"Of course I want to." I said quickly. "What I mean is, we've never- we can wait. I just want to know that you are really sure."

"Of course I'm sure." She said boldly, much more confident than I expected her to be in this situation. She grabbed the collar of my shirt and pulled me into a kiss. My mind clouded again, which suppressed all of my lingering doubts. I pulled her closer.

"I've been waiting for this for a long time," she said breathlessly while sliding my shirt off my shoulders and down my arms. What she said didn't make much sense to me, but I was past the point now of where I was going to stop and devote any time or energy into figuring it out.

I smiled and our lips met again. She fell back onto the pillows and locked her arms around my neck pulling me on top of her as we continued to kiss. My shirt had made it all the way off now, and I was working on hers.

I couldn't believe this was happening. I mean, I'd imagined it countless times but I never thought I would actually be here, with her.

And yet, no matter how many times I imagined it, it had never felt like this. The more I kissed her, the more it felt wrong, and this feeling didn't abate. The doubt was back, and it increased steadily up until the point where she reached for my belt and I broke away.

"What's wrong?" she asked looking slightly annoyed.

"Nothing it's just…" I looked at her, really looked at her. I'd seen Hallie look irritated before. In fact, I probably knew that expression better than anyone in this school, and I knew it was all wrong. I couldn't quite place was it was, but the more I looked at her, the more I was convinced that the girl with me, was not my girlfriend. No matter how much she might look like her. "Something's different about you."

Usually when we kissed, she was hesitant, almost shocked. As if she couldn't quite believe that I considered her someone to be kissed. It had gotten much less pronounced the longer we'd been dating, but still, even now there was always that moment where she froze, her body tense, before she realized what was happening and relaxed. I had always thought it was so cute, that moment when she looked so surprised, but it was gone now. She was the one going after me. It just wasn't right…

The dormitory door slammed open and I jumped. I looked at the door, and felt as if I'd been slapped. The strange foggy feeling that had taken over my mind vanished, and was replaced by fear as cold as ice when I realized it was Hallie who was standing in the doorway.

"Sirius?" she said in a shattered voice.

"What the-?" I started. This was impossible, how could Hallie be standing in the door way when she had been right here with me?

But when I looked down, the girl who I was in bed with, wasn't Hallie. With horror I realized it was Valerie, with her hair ruffled and her blouse hanging loosely off her shoulders.

"How-" I started trying to back away but she grabbed me and tried to kiss me again. "Get off me." I said pushing Valerie away.

"Hallie wait!" I shouted but she'd already turned and slammed the door behind her.

Terror ran through me as I snatched my shirt, and without bothering to do it up, ran after Hallie but by the time I'd made it to the common room she'd already made it through the portrait hole.

Instantly, I saw that the party had come to a screeching halt. The music had stopped and everyone was looking at me.

Just then, the portrait hole opened and for one wild moment I let myself think that I was going to see Hallie, when James and Remus came toppling through holding a small brown bottle and saying.

"Where is Sirius?"

He then seemed to notice that no one was talking anymore and that the party had died completely. He, like the rest of the crowd, turned towards me and he swore when he saw a disheveled looking Valerie.

I made a B line for him.

"James what is going on?" I asked my brain was still foggy but getting clearer all the time as the horror of my situation was setting in.

"You remember when Peter and Valerie went out on Valentine's?" Remus asked bitterly.

I nodded.

"Turns out, she only agreed if Peter stole some of the love potion Slughorn had us working with in class." James said furiously.

The whole common room was listening and suddenly there was a shout of.

"You. Bitch!"

Everyone turned to see Alice and Lily coming down from their dormitory, obviously wondering why the noises from the party had stopped. And to all our surprise, it was Lily who'd spoken.

She'd taken out her wand and went straight for Valerie with a fury I'd never seen in her eyes.

"Lily." James said quickly going after his girlfriend. But it was too late, Lily had let loose a string of curses and was preforming magic so quickly, it was almost like looking at Hallie trying to hex someone.

"Has everyone lost their mind?" I asked my eyes going wide. If anyone were to react this dramatically I would have expected it to be Alice.

"She is Hallie's best friend." Remus pointed out and a shock went through me.

"Oh god Hallie." I said and went tearing after her out the portrait hole.


	31. Chapter 31

Hpov

I didn't know where I was going, but I'd made it out to the grounds before Sirius caught up with me.

"Hallie wait." Sirius said catching my hand but I tore it out of his.

"Get away from me." I spat bitterly.

He tried again.

"Don't touch me." I said trying to pull away but he wouldn't let go instead he turned me to face him, and grabbed my shoulders.

"Will you just listen to me?" he almost shouted.

"Sirius, let go."

"Not until you've listened." He said insistently.

I pulled out my wand and pointed it directly at his heart but he didn't move.

"Let. Go." I said through gritted teeth.

"Go ahead, curse me." He said softly. "I won't stop you."

"Why not?" I asked furiously.

"Because you're angry, and if that's what you need to do to get it out then fine. But just promise me that after you'll just let me explain."

I glared at him feeling my entire body beginning to shake. Anger and betrayal built up inside of me and I was amazed my gaze wasn't burning him. A stream of curses and hexes went through my mind, what I wouldn't give to jinx him so thoroughly, he wouldn't be able to eat solid things for a week. But as I continued to glare into those intense gray eyes, I knew I couldn't do it. I was too weak.

Furious with myself I lowered my wand, deciding to hear what he had to say before I made my decision to resort to magical punishment.

"Hallie, it was a love potion."

"You honestly expect me to believe that?" I asked him incredulously feeling tears stinging my eyes. "With your track record?"

"It's the truth."

"I don't believe it." I said glaring up at him. "Love potions are banned at Hogwarts everybody knows that. How would she have gotten one?"

"How can you be my girlfriend and still think students aren't getting banned items in this school?" he asked in frustration.

"Your girlfriend?" I asked with a hollow laugh. "You're really that arrogant to think that anything that was between us is still there after this?"

"What are you saying?" he asked quietly.

"I'm saying I never want to see you again." I said well aware that tears were now sliding down my face and hating myself for it. Just the thought of seeing him all over Valerie, and her kissing him made me so furious I couldn't contain myself. I needed to get away from him I couldn't handle this right now. Just earlier today I'd been convinced I was in love with him, that it was possible he might love me back but now…

I tried to pull away from him but he wouldn't let me go.

"Hallie, don't run away again please I-" he started softly but I cut him off.

"Sirius I don't want to hear it." I said angrily. "I'm done being made a fool of."

"What?"

I glared at him.

"You think I didn't hear them whispering, laughing at me. God Sirius, people kept saying I was insane to even consider going out with you. And they were right."

He looked as if he wanted to say something, but couldn't bring himself to do it.

"You know what the worst part is?" I asked him quietly. "I actually convinced myself that this wasn't going to happen. I knew it would, but I kept telling myself that you were different now, that you had changed. I actually thought you cared about me." I scoffed. "I thought I was different from all those other girls."

"I do." He said quickly. "You are."

"Clearly not."

"That's not true."

"Why do you keep denying it?"

"Because I love you." He almost shouted. He immediately let go of me and looked away. Clearly, the words he'd just said, were not meant to come out.

"You what?" I whispered after a very long pause.

"I love you." He said refusing to meet my gaze. "How can you not know that by now?"

"Well considering I just saw you in bed with-"

"With what? Another girl?" he asked looking at me and his expression was bitter. "That's what a love potion does Hallie, I thought that WAS you. Everything you saw, I thought I was doing with you. Granted, I was a little surprised when she brought it up, but…"

"But we never," I started feeling myself blush. "You never seemed to want-"

"I'm an 18 year old boy Hallie, of course I want to." He said shaking his head. "The only reason I never brought it up was because I didn't want you to think that's all I wanted."

"Then what do you want?"

"I've answered this question for you already." He said annoyed.

"Refresh my memory."

"You." He said quietly. "I want you and that's all I want. No one else. Don't you get it?" he asked running his fingers through his hair in frustration. "I've never felt that before and it scares me. I've never had problems with girls before you, everything's always been so easy. But I'll be damned if anything with you is simple. Every time I try to make sense of you, you surprise me. It's like you know and you do it on purpose just to annoy me, but I can't get enough of it Hal." He said desperately. "I can't get enough of you. I love you."

His eyes met mine.

"You have to believe me Hallie." He said quietly. "I would never want to hurt you."

I stared at him and I realized I did. I did believe Sirius. All the anger and pain that had recently been controlling my emotions seemed to fade, and before I knew it I was saying the words I'd been holding in for weeks now.

"I love you too." I said quietly. I expected him to smirk and make a sarcastic witty remark, but he didn't. He merely looked at me, in shock then said.

"Oh thank god."

He wrapped his arms around me and the next thing I knew his lips were on mine. As always when I kissed him I felt electricity spark between us and run through me as he pulled me closer. I slid my arms around his neck and he picked me up in his arms.

It was a while before we broke apart. But when we did I looked up at Sirius and I could tell my cheeks were red as he sat me down.

"We should probably get back to the party." I said breathlessly. "Your fans are probably missing you."

"I don't care about that." He said shaking his head, intertwining his fingers with mine, and looking around. "It's a nice day." He said grinning. "Why don't we go for a walk?"


	32. Chapter 32

I just want to say thank you again to everyone who read/followed/favorited/ reviewed. It really means a lot to me and helps motivate me to keep writing. Kind of sad this story is over but I hope you guys enjoyed it. Anyways I'll stop rambling. Thanks again! Here's the last chapter!

...

Hpov

Before I knew it, exams had finished and it was the last day of our final year at Hogwarts. I had no idea how this year had gone by so quickly, and for the first time, I realized I was sorry term had ended. This was it, after today we were never coming back, it was good bye.

I hadn't wanted to think about it over the past few weeks, which had been some of the happiest of my life, but now that the day was here it was unavoidable. I didn't know what was going to happen with everyone, I was sure Lily, Alice, and I would always be friends, same with the Marauders, and while we'd see each other through meetings with the Order and Frank and Alice's wedding, but who knew how the real world would change our relationships.

I was trying to ignore this thought as I walked with Sirius down the Hogwarts Express for the last time, as we tried to find an empty compartment for us and the others to sit in.

"This one's empty." I said spotting a compartment on my left that had no one in it.

I slid open the door and we walked in and started loading our trunks onto the luggage rack.

"The others better hurry up." I said glancing at my watch. "If they don't get here soon they're going to miss then train. Where are they?"

"To be honest I asked them to hold off for a bit." He admitted and I looked at him confused.

"Why?"

"This came for you this morning while you were still packing." He said reaching into his pocket and pulling out a letter. "I figured you wouldn't want to be around a lot of people when you read it."

I glanced at the envelope and felt my stomach clench when I saw that on it was the crossed bone and wand insignia of St. Mungo's Hospital.

"Blimey Hal don't look so worried." He said as I took the envelope with wide eyes. "I'm sure you got in."

"I don't think I can open it." I said frowning, my fingers weren't working properly.

"Well you'd better open it now, otherwise you'll have to do it in front of Alice."

"Good point." I muttered and I unsealed the envelope.

Inside were several sheets of parchment, but the first was a letter. I took a deep breath and started to read.

 _To Ms. Katie Benson,_

 _After careful consideration of your impressive academic credentials and your high recommendations from both Hogwarts Healer Poppy Pomfrey and the distinguished Healer James Roana, we are delighted to inform you that you have been admitted into the Trainee internship at St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries with a guaranteed acceptance for the program starting this fall._

I nearly dropped the letter in shock.

It went on describing the sort of training I would receive and when I was supposed to show up to the hospital for orientation, but I was reading so fast I could barely take in any of it.

"Hallie are you ok?" Sirius asked obviously alarmed at my expression.

"I got in." I said quietly.

"Hallie that's amazing." Sirius said grinning and pulling me into a hug.

"I don't believe this." I said incredulously my brain seeming to be frozen. It had really happened. Everything I'd been working for, for seven years had finally come together all in one letter. While I felt so many things, relief, being most prominent among them, I still couldn't quiet believe it had actually happened. I'd been working for this for so long, now that it was over it didn't seem real. "I can't believe I actually got in."

"Why wouldn't you?" Sirius asked in shock. "You've earned it."

I reread the letter and this time something stuck out at me.

"They said I got a recommendation from James Roana." I looked up at him to see his eyes glinting mischievously. "Did you do that?"

"I didn't do anything." He said innocently. "After he sent me the book, Jimmy I stayed in touch. He was curious about you, so I told him about all the people you helped fix in the hospital wing and the time you treated the slashes on my chest, and he was so impressed he offered to write a recommendation for you, I didn't even have to ask. All I had to do was tell him your name and when the application was due. He actually wants to meet you over the summer, if you'd be ok with that."

"James Roana wants to meet me?" I asked in disbelief.

He didn't get to answer, for just then the compartment door flew open and Lily burst through.

"Oh my god Hallie I found you!" she said tackling me into a hug that threw us back on the seat.

"Blimey Lily." I said coughing as the wind was knocked out of me. "What's this about?"

"James!" she said excitedly and scrambling off of me while showing me her left hand where like Alice, a beautiful diamond ring now glittered. "He proposed!"

"What?" I asked in shock and Sirius muttered.

"Fiiiinaally."

"You knew about this?" I asked him.

"Of course I knew, he's been going on about it for weeks."

I looked back to Lily who's green eyes were bright with excitement and her face alight with pure joy.

"Lily that's amazing I'm really happy for you." I said grinning and she squealed.

"We need to find Alice." She said grabbing my hand and starting to drag me towards the door.

"Hold on a minute Lil." I said. "I'll catch up with you two later, I want to talk to Sirius for a bit."

"Alright." She said looking a little disappointed. "But Hallie hurry!"

"I will." I promised grinning and she practically bounced out of the compartment to go find Alice.

"Merlin." I said shaking my head as the door slid shut behind her and I looked back at Sirius. "Did you see the size of that diamond? I guess James really is rich."

Sirius laughed.

"He wanted to get one that was bigger but Remus and I shot it down. We thought Lily might be a little uncomfortable wearing the ring he wanted. And by uncomfortable, I mean she might have trouble lifting her hand."

"So that's two weddings we've got to go to now, and I start at St. Mungo's in the fall."

"Welcome to the real world Hal." He said grinning and suddenly the happiness that had come from my acceptance letter, and Lily's engagement started to fade. I was back to thinking about what was going to happen now. We weren't in school anymore, this was it. We were starting our lives. What did that mean for Sirius and me? We'd never actually talked about what we were going to do after graduation, but suddenly I found myself only a few hours and a train ride away from being faced with that very decision. I had no idea where his head was at, in fact, the only plans I knew he had were like James, to devote all his time and efforts to the Order of the Phoenix. Both boys had enough money from their families that they didn't have look for jobs yet, James from his parents and Sirius from his Uncle, and though Lily and I had never asked, we both had the feeling that they might not ever have to.

"Speaking of the real world." He said reaching into his pocket. "There's another reason why I asked everyone to give us sometime alone, I didn't want to ask this in front of them, it's not something you ask in front of other and I didn't know what you'd say…"

I felt my eyes go wide and he laughed.

"No Hallie I'm not asking THAT question." He said amused and then winked. "At least not yet," he added and my heart skipped a beat. "I'm not an idiot I know what you'd say." He pulled his hand out of his pockets and between his fingers was what looked like a house key. "But I figure if you're going to be spending a lot of time in London in the near future. And if you wanted, well, you'd always have a place to stay with me."

"You mean like, move in with you?" I asked hesitantly.

"Not if you don't want to." He said quickly. "But I thought I'd give you the option considering your house is pretty far away from the hospital and if you wanted a place that was closer to stay every once in a while."

I smiled and took the key from him just as the compartment door slid open and Lily dragged an excited Alice through, followed by James, Peter, and Remus.

"I found her Hallie, oh my gosh we've got so much to do."

Lily and Alice started rattling on about wedding plans while the boys congratulated James on his engagement. Sirius grinned and took my hand and we sat next to each other.

The train started moving and I found myself lost in thought. I knew that dangerous times were a head, with Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters on the rise it would be a miracle if we all made it out unscathed. Especially seeing as all of us were planning to be at the heart of the resistance. But I couldn't force myself to be scared. Not when my friends were all laughing, Lily and Alice were both so excited about their futures, and Sirius was beside me. All I could feel was happiness.

Outside I saw people dashing into compartments and pressing their noses against windows.

"Hallie look outside." Sirius said.

I glanced out to look at the castle for what could quite possibly be the very last time and smiled.

Fire works were shooting up from the towers of Hogwarts in the distance, and I knew exactly who was behind it. Red and gold stars showered over the school as shapes in the sky erupted. There was a dog, followed by a stag, a wolf, and a rat. My smile grew when I saw two hearts, one that read 'JP+LE' in it and the second that read 'SB+HB'.

The fantastic display continued until the castle was almost out of sight. There was one final boom that was so loud it rattled the windows on the train and bright gold letters shot up into the sky.

' _Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs, Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers give their regards to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and leave it with one final memorandum._

The gold letters then faded and were replaced by two scarlet worlds that burned brilliantly against the pale blue sky.

 _'Mischief Managed.'_

I laughed as Sirius pulled me into his lap rested his chin on my shoulder and whispered.

"I love you Hal," quietly in my ear.

"I love you too." I said grinning.

Just then James let loose another batch of fireworks which banged around the compartment then out into the corridor and down the train. Laughing with the others I knew I'd be ok. No matter what was coming, I had my friends, my family waiting for me at the station, and I had Sirius. That was all I really needed and that was all I'd ever need. I was determined to enjoy every moment of this last train ride back from Hogwarts, knowing that for now my only job was to enjoy what time I had left before I was forced to take that first step into the real world and I hardly noticed as the hours slipped by.

Far too soon we were pulling into the station and I found that after we'd said our goodbyes, Sirius and I were left alone again in the compartment.

"I guess we should probably leave." I said as he handed me my trunk from the luggage rack.

"Probably." He said looking. "Unless you plan on going back to Hogwarts in September."

"No." I admitted. "I think it's time to move on."

"Yeah," he agreed and we stepped out into the corridor. "I think you're right."

We made it to the exit that would lead the platform and I hesitated.

"What?" he asked curiously.

"Nothing it's just, I realized once I get off, there's no going back you know?" I asked looking up at him. "We'll be in the real world, no longer at school, and it's just hard to take that first step."

He smiled and took my hand in his own.

"I know, but you're not alone." He pointed out. "I promise you everything will be ok."

"You can't promise that." I said frowning.

"Yeah, but it sounded nice didn't it?" he asked grinning in that irresistibly charismatic way that made my heart flutter.

"It did." I admitted. "But you can't control everything."

"I can try." He said shrugging and giving my hand a gentle squeeze. "Are you ready?"

I thought about Lily and Alice, and my internship coming up in the fall. Then about my family waiting on the other side of the platform, and the key that was now hanging next to my mother's ring on the chain around my neck.

"Yeah." I said smiling. "I'm ready."

He smiled back and together we stepped onto the platform. I looked back at the train one final time as we made our way towards the magical barrier that lead back to the muggle world and realized I was no longer sorry to see it go. I really was ready to move on, and Sirius was right, I wasn't alone.

As I stepped through the barrier I spotted James with his and Lily's parents as they introduced themselves, Alice with her parents as she tackled Frank in a hug, and Remus talking with his mother. A few of them caught my eye and waved. I grinned and waved back than heard an all too familiar voice shout.

"Oi! Kate!"

I turned to see my brothers, Alyssa, who starting to noticeably show, holding Katie Junior, and my father, all waving for me and Sirius to come over. Mason had his arm around a girl I'd never seen before, but could only assume was Amber.

"You go on ahead." Sirius said grinning. "I'm just going to say hello to the Potters real quick."

"Alright." I said and he let my hand go. I walked towards my family on my own.

"I don't think we've met before." I said looking at the girl next to Mason. She was tall with dark red hair, warm brown eyes, and a pretty smile.

"I'm Amber." She said in a blatantly obvious American accent and smiling at me.

"I figured." I said amused and shaking her hand. "Mason talks about you a lot."

"And you must be the famous Katie," she said laughing. "He talks about you a lot as well. Can you really do magic? Or is your family just trying to make fool of me?"

I smiled. This girl must really like Mason if she was willing to believe that he thought his sister was a witch and was totally ok with that.

I glanced over my shoulder to make sure no one was looking, then pulled out my wand. I tossed it into the air like I'd seen Sirius do so many times and when I caught it, I was holding a rose.

"Welcome to the family." I said grinning at her amazed expression and handing her the rose.

"That's incredible." She said faintly.

"She is isn't she?" Sirius asked from behind me and I smiled guiltily. "Even if that's my trick she's stealing."

"Mommy, Mommy put me down!" Junior said excitedly and the second her feet touched the ground she ran to Sirius who laughed and picked her up.

"Sirius!" my brothers said excitedly and each of them clapped him on the back.

"Good to see you mate." Sampson said happily and I shot a glare at Kohl who was attempting to snatch Sirius's wand from his pocket.

"Um who is this?" I heard Amber ask Mason quietly.

"I'm Sirius Black." Sirius explained extending his free hand to shake Amber's. "Katie's boyfriend."

"Oh, are you, well can you uh, do the rose trick too?" she asked obviously having a hard time with the word wizard.

Sirius chuckled.

"Yes. I can do the rose trick too." He said amused while bouncing Junior lightly and she giggled gleefully.

"How many of you people are there?" she asked in shock looking around the platform clearly wondering how many were muggles and how many were not.

"More than you think." I said grinning.

"So Sirius are doing anything tonight?" My father asked.

"No, why?"

"We're having a bit of a party, you know to celebrate Katie's homecoming and to welcome Amber for the summer. We were wondering if you wanted to join us."

"I'd love to." He said smiling.

"Yay!" Junior said excitedly. "Now we can finish playing hide and seek."

"Kohl!" I shouted in irritation seeing that he'd gotten a hold of Sirius's wand.

"Just looking." He said innocently but when he waved it sparked and then erupted into a shower of brightly colored bubbles. "What the-?" he started and Sirius laughed.

"Fake wand Kohl." He said with a knowing smile and sliding his real wand out of his sleeve. I realized he'd been expecting one of my brothers to try and take it. "You and Sampson might be good at pranks, but me and my friends are the masters."

"Speaking of pranks." Sampson said grinning evilly as we made our way towards the parking lot. "One of Katie's ex-boyfriends is going to be at the party tonight, he's one of our neighbors and he's a total prat. Is that something you might be interested in?"

"It would be." Sirius said grinning and I rolled my eyes.

"Don't you dare." I muttered and he shot me an amused look.

"I'm sorry about this." I heard a mortified Mason mutter to Amber and I had to resist smirk when I realized we were embarrassing him.

"You're family's a so-" she started.

"Crazy?" he asked hesitantly.

"Awesome." She said grinning.

"That's what I thought too." Sirius said with a laugh. "Just wait until you see the toaster."

"What?" she asked confused. "What's so special about it?"

"I'll explain later." Mason said looking as if he were trying not to laugh.

I felt a shock go through me when I realized she included Sirius as part of our family. But then again… wasn't he?

Everyone liked him, and it was my father who had invited Sirius over tonight, not me. And he'd said everyone wanted him there.

I smiled as he took my hand and we stepped outside into the London air. Now that my future was upon me, I realized that even though things may turn dark, there was a whole lot of happiness in it too. I had Sirius, I had my family, my dream job was awaiting me after the summer, and my friends were getting married. For the first time in a long time I felt like I was exactly where I was supposed to be in life and the person I was supposed to be.

"Not so bad is it?" Sirius asked as if reading my thoughts.

"No." I said happily getting in the back of my father's car as he and I squished next to Amber and Mason. "It's not bad at all. In fact, I'd say life is pretty good."

I watched the train station disappear closing the final chapter of the last seven years of my life and again, I realized I wasn't sad. I was excited. It was time to start my life, go out and do new things, meet new people, and the best part was that Sirius would be with me, by my side as it all happened. I was in the real world now, and as terrifying of a reality that was I realized I'd never been happier.


End file.
